Child of the Stars
by MasterGhandalf
Summary: Blackfire has returned to Earth in pursuit of lost alien technology that could allow her to conquer the galaxy. The Teen Titans are trying to stop her, but can Starfire defeat her sister before it's too late?
1. Prologue: The Hunt

**Prologue: The Hunt**

The Tamaranean warrior soared through the night skies of the alien world, ignoring the chaos that raged below him. Two factions on this planet had long been simmering at each other- a few years ago the hostilities burst into open conflict that showed no sign of abating. Now the planet burned. Still, the warrior found it in his soul to forgive their destructiveness- it had, after all, only made his task easier. Normally he would have been forced to fight his way through an entire alien army to remove his prize from their High Temple- now they were too busy fighting each other to notice the intruder.

Sighting his destination, the warrior dropped down from the sky and landed lightly atop a tall rock outcropping that offered a well-protected view of the surrounding warfare. A Tamaranean female lounged on a large stone there, watching the battlefield with an expression of amused disdain. She sat forward eagerly, however, when the warrior stepped forward and knelt to her.

"Do you have it?" she asked eagerly.

"I do, milady," he said. Reaching into the pouch that hung by his side, he withdrew a violet crystal that was clutched within a complex wire frame. It glowed with a soft light that seemed to pulse slightly. The female snatched it away from him and held it close, staring at the artifact with a satisfied smile. Then she removed half-circle formed from linked artifacts of similar design from within her cape and fixed the newest acquisition in place.

"Just one more," she said, "and I'll have the entire Crown." She motioned and another female stepped out of the shadows nearby, her red hair held back by a smooth metal device that wrapped around her skull, her clothing covered in designs that suggested wires. Taking the Crown from her lady, she removed her own headpiece and fitted them together. She ran her hands over the combined device for several moments, face locked in an expression of fierce concentration. The warrior didn't know how this piece of technology worked- he suspected only the female engineer did, as she had been the one to invent it- but he did know that it had led them so far without fail.

Finally the scientist smiled and looked up at her companions. "It has picked up on the signal." She waved her hand over the tracker again and it projected the holographic image of a world into the air above it, complete with coordinates. "It is on this planet that we will find the last piece of the Crown."

The lady studied the display for a moment then grinned wolfishly. "What is it, Lady Blackfire?" the warrior asked. "Do you know this world?"

"I've been there a few times," she said. "It's called Earth. I've got some old friends there I haven't seen in a while- I think they're going to be surprised when I show up. Especially when I have the whole crown."

Blackfire's smile widened and her eyes burned violet. "And then, sister dear," she said, "we'll see if you can handle me."


	2. Chapter 1: The Princess and the Warrior

**Chapter 1: The Princess and the Warrior**

Starfire stood next to Robin in the strange device that the humans called and 'elevator' as it slowly climbed the side of the skyscraper. The sun was sinking past the horizon and the city's lights could be seen from the window, spread out below them. This building wasn't one of Jump City's tallest- it certainly had nothing on the structure's of Starfire's own home world- but the lights were still beautiful.

She turned to Robin. "Remind me please why you wanted to come here tonight?"

The leader of the Teen Titans smiled and gave a soft chuckle. "I told you, Star- this it what we Earthlings call a date."

"A date," Starfire repeated. "Was that not what you called it the night you had to dance with the Kitten and there ended up being a fight?"

Robin winced at that memory, something Starfire sympathized with completely- she could only imagine how horrible enduring the company of Killer Moth's spoiled daughter directly for hours must have been. "Well, hopefully there won't be any mutant moths or spider-people here tonight," he finally said. "And this isn't a dance- it's a restaurant."

Starfire nodded. "Like the establishment from which we buy our pizza?"

"A bit classier than that." The elevator came to a stop, and with a ringing sound that made Starfire jump the elevator door slid open. The two Titans stepped out into a restaurant that took up the entire top floor of the building, with windows all around looking out over the night city. Shimmering light fixtures- _chandeliers_, Starfire remembered the word- hung from the ceiling.

"Do you like it?" Robin asked.

"It is beautiful, Robin," she replied.

A man stood up from behind a small desk, preparing to lead them towards their table- then he stopped, his eyes widening as he realized who exactly he would be serving. Gesturing excitedly, he led them to their seats; the heads of the restaurant's other patrons turning to get a better look at the two superheroes. After all, such a sight was not an everyday occurrence- even in Jump City.

They were able to order their meal without difficulty ( thankfully, Starfire had become reasonably familiar with what constituted main course, sides, and dessert and generally didn't combine them in inventive ways anymore, though she still found human food rather limited, and switched her straw from a glass of water into the mustard bottle while Robin wasn't looking).

They sat quietly for several moments before Robin finally spoke. "Star," he said, "I've been thinking ever since that battle with General Immortus and how close we all came to- well, you know*. It really went to show how dangerous it is, what we do- fighting monsters and criminals and demons every day."

Starfire put a hand on his. "I know, Robin," she said. "But it is something we have to do. I do not fear dying, and I do not think you do either."

Robin shook his head. "It's not that," he said. "It's just that I wanted to make sure that I had a chance to tell you-"

Before Robin could finish his sentence, loud music blared out from under the table. The team leader muttered a word under his breath that Starfire didn't know but suspect was impolite. He reached down to his belt and pulled out his communicator- the apparent source of the sound, and flipped it open irritably.

"What is it?" Robin grated.

"Hello, lovebirds!" a loud voice said, and several other diners nearby turned their heads to see what was causing the noise. "Teen Titans central here to check up and make sure that everything is A-OK and under control!"

"Beast Boy," Robin said, "I told you to call if there was a problem at _your_ end. I don't think having dinner with Star is going to put either of us in danger."

"Aww, come on, Robin," Beast Boy said. "Dates are supposed to be fun." He lowered his voice to an audible whisper. "Have you kissed her yet?"

"None. Of. Your. Business," Robin growled.

"Hey, I just asked if you- ack! Raven, put me down!" Though it was clear from his tone that Beast Boy had, if anything, raised his voice, the sound was growing quickly quieter- almost as if the shapeshifter was being dragged away from his communicator by telekinesis. Starfire giggled.

"We're sorry," Cyborg's voice came on a moment later. "Raven's got everything under control now. Back to your regularly scheduled romance!" The communicator clicked off. Robin tucked it back into his belt, sighing.

"You were going to say something, Robin?" Starfire prompted.

"Never mind," he replied. "It wasn't important."

Starfire doubted that, but something told her that Robin was no longer in the right mood to say whatever it was, so she didn't press it. Dinner passed uneventfully, apart from the waiter's scandalized expression at the straw poking from the mustard container, and both Titans were eating the quite delicious dessert called a "sundae" (though a very similar sounding word was used for the first day of the week, a fact which had caused Starfire some momentary confusion) when the waiter brought the bill.

"Robin," Starfire said, "are you certain that you have enough of the green slips of paper for this?"

"Don't worry," Robin said, leaning close. "I get a monthly allowance from Bruce- he thinks I'm using this to buy new equipment. What he doesn't know won't hurt him." He laughed softly.

After they had paid, the two of them exited the restaurant and stood beside the elevator when Starfire took Robin by the arm.

"What are you doing, Starfire?" he asked.

"You paid for the dinner. I would like to do something special for you as well, Robin." A service door stood beside the elevator; Starfire pulled it open and leapt out into the open sky, Robin hanging on to her arm behind her.

They flew up into the night sky, the city spread out below them like a sea of gleaming jewels. Starfire sighed as the wind rustled past her and blew her hair streaming out behind her. The Tamaranean race were children of the skies- flight had long been considered among her people to be one of the greatest joys they could know.

"Come fly with me, Robin," Starfire said as she adjusted her grip to make sure he wouldn't fall. "We have done it in battle, and you have flown in a vehicle, but it is not the same."

Robin smiled, trusting in the Tamaranean princess to keep him aloft. "All right," he said. "Show me what it's like." Starfire smiled back at him, and then they were off, soaring above the city faster than any Earth creature could fly. Star threw back her head and laughed as she flew, and after a few moments Robin joined in. They circled the city for what felt like an eternity, and then Starfire brought them down on top of a building.

"That was amazing," Robin said breathlessly.

"It is," Starfire agreed. "I am glad you enjoyed it."

"I was on the trapeze in the circus when I was a kid, and I thought that was flying, but next to what you can do, it doesn't hold a candle."

Starfire giggled. "Thank you, Robin," she said. The two Titans stood still for several moments, looking up at the silver moon among them, when Robin's communicator rang.

"Not again!" he snarled, pulling it out and opening it. "Beast Boy, this had better not be a prank-"

"It's not," a cool voice said from the other end, and Starfire recognized Raven. "We've got trouble. There's a museum that's just been broken into- we're on it, but it's much closer to you."

"We'll be there." Robin snapped the communicator shut and turned back to Starfire. "I'm really sorry, Star," he said, "But it looks like we have an appointment with a crook or two."

"I heard," Starfire said. "Let's go."

#############

They landed outside the museum, and Starfire stared at the hole that had seemingly been _burned_ through one of the walls. No ordinary criminal could do that- it was most likely some sort of demon, robot, or alien, and that meant a tough fight was in the works. Robin pulled a small metal cylinder from his belt and it extended into a fighting staff; Starfire formed a starbolt in one hand. Together they slowly crept through the opening.

The museum was dark and empty, but it was obvious that someone had been through here. Displays had been smashed and overturned, as if the person who had broken in was looking for something and was enraged that he couldn't find it.

Suddenly something smashed in a nearby side gallery. Robin motioned for quiet as he and Starfire crept into the hall. A tall figure stood in the middle of the floor, wrapped in a hooded cloak and tearing angrily through a pile of artifacts he'd removed from their displays.

"Hey you," Robin called, stepping forward, "didn't you ever learn to have more respect for history?" The cloaked figure spun towards him, and Robin leaped forward, staff in hand- and was sent flying by a powerful blow from the thief's right fist. He'd been an acrobat in his childhood and a martial artist for most of his teen years, so he was able to land on his feet with little damage, but Starfire knew that a blow like that had to have been backed by superhuman strength.

"Who are you and why are you here?" she demanded, stepping between the thief and Robin and holding her starbolt at the ready.

The figure started and then cast back his hood, and it was Starfire's turn to gasp. The thief's human-like build, orange skin, and glowing green eyes were instantly recognizable features- those of her own people, and one of her people she knew.

"I am sorry you became involved in this, Koriand'r," he said in their own language. "I would have preferred that you lived."

*For the full story of how the Teen Titans prevented General Immortus from attaining world domination (with a little help from Red X), see my fanfic "The Art of War".


	3. Chapter 2: Unwelcome Visitors

**Chapter 2: Unwelcome Visitors**

"I would have preferred that you lived," the Tamaranean warrior said almost sadly, and with a flourish he threw back his cloak and drew the weapon that hung at his side- a long, curved sword with an unnaturally sharp edge. Green light flashed around his hand and shot down the length of the blade, so that it appeared to glow with inner fire. Raising the sword above his head, the warrior shot towards Starfire.

"I am not dead yet!" she said fiercely and launched herself from the floor, hands pointing down at her opponent. Starbolts flashed and the warrior spun, catching the bolts on his sword and sending them ricocheting into the walls, ceiling, and exhibits. Alarms blared, and Starfire felt a slight mist dampen her hair as the sprinkler system activated.

"I see you are more skilled than I remembered," the warrior said, panting slightly. "That will make this more interesting."

"I don't know who you are or how you know Starfire," a voice said from nearby, and both Tamaraneans turned to see Robin standing with a metal disk raised. "But I'll tell you this much- you're going down _hard_." Pulling his arm back, Robin hurled the disk with all his strength.

The Tamaranean warrior caught it out of midair with contemptuous ease. "Pathetic," he said in English. "I knew that you humans were a weak species, but-" before he could finish his sentence, the disk exploded in his hands, and from it poured a thick white mist. When it cleared, the warrior was encased in ice.

"We may be weak," Robin said, "but we've learned to compensate. Are you okay, Starfire?"

"Yes, Robin," she said, landing next to him. "And you?"

"Good as new." He scowled over at the frozen warrior. "I couldn't understand what you were saying, but I got the feeling you knew that guy."

"I do. His name is And'riskn- Fireblade in your language. He is one of the Royal Guards of Tamaran's Grand Ruler."

Robin shook his head. "I don't get it. What's a Tamaranean Royal Guard doing robbing a museum on Earth? It's not like any of the stuff here would be worth anything on your planet- would it?"

"I do not think so," Starfire said. "My people are warriors, Robin- we believe in honor, and courage, and loyalty. Fireblade is a Royal Guard- he is supposed to be everything a Tamaranean warrior would ever hope to be. I do not see how any of these things could be in committing crimes on another planet. He is not like my sister."

"Well, we can't just take him to prison without having to answer a lot of awkward questions and maybe causing an interplanetary incident." Robin shook his head and took a step towards the frozen warrior. "We need to get to the bottom of this now."

Starfire saw the ice cracking first. "Robin- look out!" she shouted, but it was too late. The ice burst open with a flash of brilliant green light, and Fireblade stood free, holding his glowing sword tightly. Starfire knew that the weapon was unique, made for the warrior by a Tamaranean scientist in honor of his name. It harnessed his body's natural energy to enable it to burn through almost any substance and deflect most attacks- including the ice that Robin's bomb had released. Shaking free of his prison, Fireblade spun and took Robin square in the chest with a punch. The Titans' leader went flying, landing in a pile of debris against the far wall.

In an instant Starfire hurled herself at the other Tamaranean, rage adding to her already superhuman strength. Fireblade was bowled off his feet and stumbled backwards, his sword sent flying from his hand. Then his eyes burned green with power as well, and the two alien warriors stood in the center of the museum hall, struggling against each other as the ground began to crack slightly beneath them.

Ultimately, though, the Royal Guard's greater mass gave him the edge. He forced Starfire off her feet and struck her a backhanded blow that sent her stumbling back against a pillar. Fireblade quickly retrieved his trademark weapon and then turned back to his opponent. "Give up now, Koriand'r," he said in the Tamaranean language. "This is not your fight. If you leave now, I will not even tell her that you were here."

"Her?" Starfire asked, her eyes narrowing. "You are still working with Blackfire, then? Then this is my fight, And'riskn!"

Her opponent brought his blade up again and triggered its fire. "That may be. But you are still outmatched."

"I have learned some new tricks since we last met!" Starfire said. Her eyes flared a brighter green than normal and from them shot two beams of intense green energy. They struck Fireblade in the chest, driving him to his knees. As he pulled himself back up, he saw the princess facing him, a starbolt held in her outstretched hand.

"You cannot win," he said again.

"Maybe not. But you can't either." A blast of sonic energy took Fireblade in the side and slammed him into a wall. Starfire spun and saw Cyborg standing in the entrance to the exhibit hall, sonic cannon at the ready. Raven hovered by his side, and next to her was a green gorilla that could only be Beast Boy.

"Rule one of being a supervillain in this city," Cyborg continued. "Don't mess with the Titans."

Fireblade groaned and pulled himself back to his feet, but Cyborg kept his cannon trained on him. Starfire hurried across the exhibit hall and found Robin pulling himself out of the debris he'd fallen in. She helped him to his feet, and he winced slightly.

"Are you still okay?" she asked.

"Better now," he said. "D'you think we've got him now?"

"I do not believe there is any way he could defeat all of us," Starfire said, "but it is still possible he could escape."

Across the room, Fireblade's lips curled into a smile. "Yes," he said, "that is possible."

"Look out!" Raven suddenly called. At that exact moment, the skylight atop the hall burst into shards, and two more orange-skinned, green-eyed figures descended from the sky.

The first was a hulking man who had almost enough muscle mass to put Starfire's k'norfka Galfore to shame. He landed on the floor with enough force to cause the ground to shake slightly, and stared at the Titans while cracking his knuckles. Beside him was a slender female in clothing patterned with strange designs that resembled wires and circuitry, her eyes alight with curiosity and keen intellect as much as with power. Starfire recognized her as Kaxdhri'in, the same scientist who had created Fireblade's sword- and who was, like the Royal Guard himself, a childhood friend of Blackfire's.

"And'riskn," Kaxdhri'in asked in Tamaranean without preamble, "did you find the shard?"

"No," he replied. "I searched the whole museum, but I could not find it."

The scientist ran her hands along a device in her hair, eyes tightly shut. "It _was_ here," she finally said. "But it has been moved- recently. With time, I can pick up the trail again."

Across the hall, Beast Boy resumed his true shape. "I'm totally lost here," he said. "Cyborg, you got any idea what they're saying?"

"How should I know?" the other Titan asked. "I'm half robot, not half universal translator. Ask Star later. I'm still trying to figure out if they're going to attack us or not."

Kaxdhri'in's head whipped around at the voices, and when her eyes found Cyborg, she smiled. "I hadn't realized the humans had such advanced robotics," she said in English, gliding across the floor until her face was inches from his. "Would you permit me to analyze your circuits?" she almost purred.

Cyborg pulled back. "Sorry," he said, raising his cannon. "Can't let you steal any trade secrets."

"A pity." She raised her own right hand and a small metal band wrapped around her wrist began to glow violet. It fired a slender beam which struck Cyborg's cannon arm and sent sparks shooting up and down it. Finally they stopped- and the arm flopped at Cyborg's side, useless.

"Hey! Did I break _your_ tech?" he shouted, swinging his other arm around for a more old-fashioned attack. Kaxdhri'in caught his hand in hers and pushed, sending him flying backwards. Before she could press her advantage, however, a shroud of darkness wrapped around her body and jerked her off her feet.

"You've got some nice superscience," Raven said in a cold, dry voice, "but that's not so good up against real magic."

"We will see about that." The scientist's clothing flared with a bright violet light, forcing the dark energy away from her body. Righting herself in midair, Kaxdhri'in raised both her hands and activated the weapons built into her silver bracelets. Violet light flashed against dark energy as the scientist and the sorceress dueled in midair. On the ground below, Beast Boy shimmered and shifted back into his gorilla form, only to be met by the hulking Tamaranean. The two pushed back and forth against each other, neither having a definite advantage.

Fireblade limped into the center of the hall. "Kaxdhri'in!" he called upwards, "if the shard is not here, then it serves no purpose for us to remain. We must depart!"

"I am a little busy at the moment!" she replied, barely dodging a shadowy manifestation of Raven's magic before returning fire.

"Allow me to assist you!" The Royal Guard launched himself into the air, igniting his sword. Starfire gasped and pulled away from Robin, leaping into the air after Fireblade, but she was two slow. Raven was distracted, caught up in her magic, and didn't notice the opponent closing in behind her. He leveled his sword and from its tip shot a stream of green light. It struck the sorceress in the back, her magic absorbing enough of the blow to prevent permanent damage- but she was still distracted. The magical energy assaulting Kaxdhri'in failed briefly, and in that time the scientist pulled a small device from her belt. She pressed a button on its surface and hurled it into the air. There was a brilliant flash of light, and when it cleared the three enemy Tamaraneans were gone.

"Who were those people, Star?" Cyborg asked after a pause.

"Yeah," Beast Boy said, reverting back to himself. "That big one was pretty tough. How'd they get away, anyway?"

"Short-range teleporter, tuned to their bio-signatures." Cyborg saw Beast Boy's eyes glaze over. "They teleported, BB. Like Raven can do. Now let's hear what Starfire has to say."

"I do not know who the big one was," Starfire said softly. "But I do know the other two- Fireblade and Kaxdhri'in. They are one of my people's greatest warriors and one of our greatest scientists- and both were close friends of my sister."

"Blackfire," Robin said darkly. "You think she's back on Earth?"

"I do," Starfire said. "I heard them talking in our language, and they mentioned a 'her' they were working for. I do not think it could be anyone else. They also said that they were looking for a shard, and it was not here."

"So Blackfire's back and she's after something on Earth," Robin said to himself. "That explains a lot- and it tells us one thing for sure."

"Trouble," Starfire finished for him. The other three Titans nodded in silent agreement.


	4. Chapter 3: A Princess's Revenge

**Chapter 3: A Princess's Revenge **

The old mansion on the outskirts of Jump City had stood empty for years. Once a family of wealthy businesspeople had lived there, but a decade ago they had moved into a sleek and modern penthouse in the center of town and though they kept the old home, the only people who went there regularly were the maintenance staff. Because of its emptiness and out of the way location- and her own taste for opulence- Blackfire had picked it as her home base during her stay on Earth.

Fireblade came in and landed in the mansion's front lawn, Kaxdhri'in and the hulking warrior- whose name was Thalfarr- right behind him. Straightening himself, he prepared as much as he could for his lady's reaction to their failure. Blackfire could be unpredictable, but she had an incredible temper and the Royal Guard was certain that he was about to be on the receiving end. Finally he pushed open the front door and stepped inside, his companions in his wake.

"Lady Blackfire!*" he called into the dark entrance hall. "We have returned." Fireblade waited for an answer, but none came. "My lady!" he called again. Still nothing.

Kaxdhri'in sighed and ran her hand along the scanner that wrapped around her head. "She is not here," the scientist said after a few moments.

"What do you mean?" Fireblade demanded. "Where could she be?"

"Do not tell me that you cannot guess," Kaxdhri'in muttered. Fireblade shook his head as he considered her meaning. He knew full well that Blackfire was selfish and loved nothing better than a good time- preferably at some other being's expense- but she was still of the royal house and the rightful heir to the Tamaranean throne. His loyalty to her was therefore absolute, in spite of her many flaws.

"Then we will wait," Fireblade said emphatically, seating himself in one of the humans' comfortable chairs. Earth had its moments, to be sure, but he still missed the pomp and grandeur of Tamaran- and especially the food. The earthlings had no real idea of how to properly prepare the various edible things on their planet, and unfortunately for Fireblade none of their little group of Tamaraneans were chefs, and as long as Lady Blackfire remained exiled he had vowed to never set foot on the home world either.

Of course, once they had assembled the complete crown that would change…

His reverie was interrupted by Kaxdhri'in prodding his arm. "She's coming," the scientist said quietly.

Fireblade stood as he looked out the window and saw Blackfire's shadow descending towards the mansion. She landed lightly outside and threw the door open, and the royal guard went down on one knee.

Blackfire wore a satisfied smile on her face and several gleaming necklaces she hadn't possessed earlier in the day were draped off her shoulders and arms. She balanced a cup of some exotic Earth drink in one hand and motioned for Fireblade to rise with the other. "I do think I'm the luckiest princess in the galaxy," she said. "I found an amazing party to crash downtown, and when I get home my loyal minions await me with my prize." Her violet eyes took on a hungry cast. "Where is it? I want to see it!"

"Lady Blackfire," Fireblade said stiffly, "I am sorry, but we were unable to recover the last piece of the crown."

"WHAT?" Blackfire shrieked, spilling her drink onto the floor. She seized Fireblade by one arm and pulled him down to her eye level. "You are supposed to be one of the best warriors on Tamaran, and you can't even get one object from the clutches of a bunch of pitiful human professors? I ought to hurl you so high into the atmosphere that you'd burn up on reentry!"

"I am sorry," Fireblade repeated. "It was out of my control. The shard was no where the scanner said it would be."

"Well, maybe I was a little too hard on you," Blackfire said, her tone switching to polite and forgiving so fast it was almost dizzying. Then she whirled on Kaxdhri'in, and her eyes were glowing with fury once again. "This is _your_ fault, then! You said your scanner was infallible- you had better have a good reason why it failed this time."

"I do, actually," Kaxdhri'in said. "The piece had been moved- apparently at some point between my initial scan and Fireblade's arrival at the museum. I tried to pick up the trail again- but that was when we were interrupted."

"Interrupted?" Blackfire asked incredulously. "Who on this planet could possibly interrupt you? The four of us could take over this entire nation by ourselves if we wanted to."

"It was your sister," Fireblade said, "and her friends. They are a formidable team, I must admit."

"Yes," Blackfire said, her eyes narrowed. "Starfire and the Teen Titans. They got me thrown in a Centaurian prison once, and then they came along and took away my throne. They're really getting very annoying. It looks like I'm going to have to remind sister dear who is the older and better of the two of us." She clenched her fist and a violet starbolt formed around it.

"You will, my lady," Fireblade assured her. "Once you have the crown nothing can stop you- then you can have your throne and home back."

"That's right- and anything else I want, for that matter," Blackfire said. "And I think after everything that I want quite a lot. Even the galaxy, if that's what I feel like. No, wait- not the whole galaxy. Running the place after I took it over would be a nightmare. About half ought to do just fine." She turned to Kaxdhri'in. "Can you get a signal from where the shard is now?"

The scientist adjusted her scanner and nodded. "I should be able to figure the precise location in a few moments."

"Excellent." Blackfire beamed. "Now then, before we go after we need to make sure my sister's crew of little busy-bodies are already occupied." She glanced over at Thalfarr where he stood silently in the corner. "Do you think you could manage that, big man?"

The huge Tamaranean smiled and cracked his knuckles. "Give the word, and I can crush any of them for you. They are strong- but I am stronger."

Blackfire's smile widened. "Then this is what I want you to do…"

############

The Teen Titans had returned to their tower and flopped down, exhausted, in various living-room seats when Beast Boy turned to Starfire. "All right, Star," he said accusingly. "You knew those guys we fought back there. I want to know more about who they are, and how we can kick their butts next time."

"For once I agree with Beast Boy," Raven said. "I don't think we've seen the last of them, and it's easier to beat people who you understand."

"All right," Starfire said quietly. "I told you that I do not know who the large one was, but the other two were And'riskn- Fireblade- and Kaxdhri'in. Fireblade is a great warrior and Kaxdhri'in is very clever with machines, like Cyborg."

"She's more than clever with them, if you ask me," Cyborg put in. "She was flirting with me back there while we were fighting, and looking like she wanted to take me apart to see how I worked at the same time. Normally I don't mind a cute girl who thinks I'm attractive, but that was just _creepy._"

"Why am I the only guy in this group who doesn't have a hot space chick interested in him?" Beast Boy asked absently.

"Because all the 'hot space chicks' have taste," Raven said. "Now let Starfire finish."

"When all three of them were much younger, they were close friends with my sister Blackfire," Starfire continued. "Eventually, Fireblade joined the Royal Guards and Kaxdhri'in was accepted to a famous university. As soon as she was old enough to leave home, Blackfire went off on all kinds of adventures around the galaxy, and I had thought they separated from each other."

"Apparently not," Robin said darkly.

"Fireblade is very honorable, and loyal to the royal family, but he is also arrogant. Kaxdhri'in is clever, but not a skilled fighter- she prefers to rely on tricks and machines." Starfire shook her head. "I am sorry I cannot tell you more, but I did not know either of them too well- Blackfire was very possessive of her friends."

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me," Robin said. "But I still don't get why a loyal Royal Guard would still work for her- she tried to take over your planet by using trickery and a power crystal- that's not very honorable."

"Maybe he doesn't know what really happened," Raven put in. "I didn't see him when we were on Tamaran- maybe he wasn't there for some reason, and then Blackfire found him and lied about what happened. That seems like something she would do."

"I agree," Starfire said. "Kaxdhri'in would be easy to recruit- if Blackfire promised her a challenge, she would do it no matter how selfish Blacfire's goals were."

"There's still one thing that's bugging me," Cyborg said. "You say you caught this Fireblade guy robbing a museum? I could understand it if it was a human crook wanting to get his hands on something he could sell, or a bigger bad guy after a mystical artifact or something- but what could an alien get out of a bunch of old human stuff?"

"Maybe it wasn't human stuff he was after," Robin mused. "Maybe one of the professors got his hands on an _alien_ artifact- something Blackfire could use as a weapon."

"If that is the case," Starfire said, "we need to find out what it is and stop Blackfire from getting it. My sister is selfish and cruel, and if she has a powerful weapon it would be dangerous for everyone on Earth and Tamaran."

The other Titans nodded in silent agreement.

*All dialogue in the first section is spoken in Tamaranean- I've written it as English, along with names like Komand'r (Blackfire), Koriand'r (Starfire) and And'riskn (Fireblade) that translate well into English. Kaxdhri'in and Thalfarr do not have any real meaning in English and have been left untranslated. Blackfire's speech pattern is more relaxed than the other Tamaraneans' to represent her more casual, informal nature.


	5. Chapter 4: Misdirection

**Chapter 4: Misdirection**

When Starfire walked into the Titans' Tower living room the next morning, she found that Cyborg was already there, hunched over the computer console and seemingly lost in concentration. Robin paced back and forth behind him, occasionally pausing to bend over the screen.

"Friends?" Starfire asked, leaning in as well. "What are you doing?"

"I've got Cyborg going over the museum inventory," Robin replied. "If we can find out what Blackfire was after we might be able to figure out what she's planning. Cyborg's looking for anything that scientists or archeologists couldn't identify- something that might be from another planet. That's got to be what they were looking for."

Starfire wasn't certain. "My sister was a thief, remember?" she said. "The first time she came to Earth she was trying to frame me for her crimes. She might simply be after something valuable from this planet."

"Maybe- but I don't think so." Robin crossed his arms and began to pace. "The last time we saw Blackfire, she'd taken over Tamaran- going back to petty theft would be quite a bit of a comedown from there. And even if she did, why would she do it here, where she knows we'd stop her? And how would she have roped those others into helping her? No, Starfire, I think there's something bigger going on here."

"Yeah, well, all this research stuff is boring," Beast Boy said from the kitchen, where he was gathering together a wide range of foods made from that resembled meat but Starfire knew was actually called "tofu". "Hey Robin- up for getting your butt kicked at the gamestation while Cyborg goes through lists of musty old artifacts and stuff?"

"Sorry, BB," Cyborg said, "I'm using the computer. You'll just have to wait."

Beast Boy sighed. "Figures," he muttered, and began noisily eating his large breakfast. None of the other Titans ate quite as much food as Starfire's Tamaranean metabolism required, of course, but the little green shapeshifter often came close.

The team waited for several more minutes, but Cyborg's search seemed to turn up nothing useful. Raven glided in and nodded silently to her friends before fixing herself a cup of the tea she enjoyed, but apart from that brief interlude the room remained quiet and still.

The spell was broken by the sound of an alarm blaring from the ceiling. Robin rushed over to the wall and activated a hidden control panel and computer screen. He studied the readout intently for a moment and then looked over his shoulder at the other Titans. "Trouble, team," he said. "Looks like someone's setting off explosions all over downtown."

"Finally, some action!" Beast Boy said, jumping to his feet. "Let's kick some bad guy butt!"

"Cyborg, you'd better stay here and keep working," Robin said. "Call us if you find anything. Everybody else- come with me!" He hurried from the room, Starfire, Beast Boy, and Raven close behind.

############

Chaos reigned in downtown as the Teen Titans swooped in. Starfire and Raven flew under their own power- Robin was held aloft in Starfire's arms, and Beast Boy had taken the form of a giant green eagle. Looking down from above, they could see people running about in a panic as smoke rose and rubble fell from the sides of buildings.

Starfire saw part of one nearby building start to give way; looking down, she saw a family standing obliviously below. "Robin!" she shouted.

"I know!" he yelled back. "Get me down there!" Starfire nodded and fell into a dive, releasing Robin at the last second. He landed feet-first on the ground and shoved the mother and her two children out of the way. Above him, Starfire caught the bulk of the falling rubble and lowered in safely to the ground.

Another loud blast rocked the area. An elevated train-track ran nearby- now a large chunk was missing from the middle of it, though most of the pieces that had been blasted free were caught by Raven's magic and now hovered eerily in midair.

A strange sound caught Starfire's attention. Straining her ears, she listened more closely- yes, there could be no doubt. A train was coming. "Raven!" she shouted. "Watch out. Another train is coming- it will crash."

"No it won't," Raven said, closing her eyes and concentrating intently. The pieces of rubble jerked slightly in midair, and then as one they rose up and reformed into the elevated track, rails and all. It wasn't perfect, but it just needed to hold long enough for the train to get across.

Starfire caught a flash of orange out of the corner of one eye, and barely had time to throw herself in between Blackfire's giant henchman and the concentrating sorceress. The two Tamaranean's grappled briefly in midair, then pulled apart. "You are threatening innocent lives," Starfire snarled in her native language, eyes glowing bright green. "That is not the way of Tamaran, and it is not something I can let you do!"

"They are human," the brute replied. "Why should we care what happens to them?"

"Blackfire has much to answer for if she calls someone like you friend," Starfire said. "What does she want here?"

"All that you need to know is this- I am Thalfarr, and I am your death!" With a roar he hurled himself at his opponent, but Starfire was ready. Raising one hand, the second princess of Tamaran formed a blazing starbolt and hurled it directly into the charging Thalfarr's face. He was knocked back into a nearby building, roaring in agony and rage.

Pulling himself back into an upright position, Thalfarr prepared to launch himself back into the sky. Before he could, however, Beast Boy flew and him and began to scratch and claw at the Tamaranean's face and bare chest. Cursing loudly he tried to bat the shapeshifter away, but in his current form Beast Boy was simply too fast. Finally, though, he got in a hit and the green eagle was knocked sideways through a window.

Starfire refused to allow him the advantage. She shot forward and caught Thalfarr's wrists with her hands, jerking back and throwing him into the sky. He righted himself dazedly and whirled about, searching for his foe, but Starfire caught him from behind with bolts of energy flashing from her eyes. Thalfarr screamed and fell from the sky, landing in the street and forming a rather impressive impact crater. Slowly he dragged himself to his feet and gazed up hatefully at Starfire.

"You will pay for injuring me, girl," he growled.

"I don't know what you just said," Beast Boy's voice came from above, "but it didn't sound like "I surrender", so I feel pretty good about doing this!" Starfire turned just in time to see him leap from the window he'd just crashed through, his form growing as he fell into that of a huge green elephant. Thalfarr looked up slowly, and an almost comical expression of dismay crossed his brutal features before Beast Boy landed on him.

The elephant stood still for a moment and then shook its head as though to clear it from the fall- and then its eyes widened as it was slowly lifted off the ground. Thalfarr was rising to his feet and held Beast Boy aloft with both hands, and after stretching up to his full height he tossed the shapeshifter away. Beast Boy reverted to his true form in midair and landed among terrified pedestrians in a crumpled heap.

"I've gotta find out what gym that guy goes to," he muttered dazedly.

Thalfarr growled and shook dirt off himself. "You cannot defeat me," he called out in English, raising his voice so that it could be heard over the passing train. "Give up now, and be spared."

"Sorry," a nearby voice said. "Giving up just isn't part of our policy." Thalfarr spun and saw Robin standing beside one of the damaged buildings, birdarangs in hand. With practiced ease he hurled them one at a time, and as they impacted on the brutal Tamaranean's body they burst into small explosions. Thalfarr was forced back a few steps and scowled.

"Human," he spat. Looking up at Starfire hovering above them, he jerked his head. "You're her favorite, aren't you? Well now, let's see if she can save you!" Thalfarr hurled himself forward faster than either Robin or Starfire could react. He caught the Titans' leader by the throat and began to squeeze.

"Robin!" Starfire shouted and darted towards her enemy, grabbing him from behind and hurling him to the ground. Robin fell back, released from Thalfarr's grip, and began massaging his neck. The Tamaranean brute, though, rose to his feet apparently unharmed.

Before either side could react, however, his body was suddenly tightly wrapped in dark energy. Thalfarr roared as he was lifted up off the ground and he looked upwards at his captor. Raven hovered there, her eyes glowing a brilliant white.

"Nobody hurts my friends," she said quietly.

Robin walked up to the captive warrior and looked into his eyes. "Are you working for Blackfire," he demanded angrily, "or was this just your warped idea of fun? Do you know what she's planning?"

"You are with Fireblade and Kaxdhri'in," Starfire put in, stepping up. "Where are they? Where is my sister?"

"I do know," Thalfarr snarled. "But there's nothing on this planet that can make me talk!"

Raven landed in front of him and looked him up and down dispassionately. "Maybe not," she said, "but I'm not of this world either- and there's things I can do to you that I can guarantee you've never even imagined. Now _talk_."

Thalfarr maintained his defiant silence, but before any of the Titans could press him further Robin's communicator rang. Opening it up, the team leader saw Cyborg's face.

"I think I found what we're looking for, Robin," he said. "Weird bit of crystal unearthed in Egypt a few years back- not any molecular structure known to our science. They finally just decided to put it in the museum as a curiosity, but it kept shorting out lights and cameras near it. They called in some big-name scientist to take a look at the thing, and he took it out to his home in the country yesterday to study. I can't be sure, Robin, but it looks like everything fits."

"Find the scientist's home address," Robin said. "If that crystal is what Blackfire's after, we need to warn him."

Behind him, Thalfarr laughed. "You're too late, human!" he said. "You want to know where my lady and her friends are? They're already out there- and they already have their prize! You've been had."

Robin cursed loudly- a word that Starfire understood, but had never heard him use before. "We need to get out there before they get away," he said. "Come on, Teen Titans- Go!"


	6. Chapter 5: An Artifact of Tamaran

**Chapter 5: An Artifact of Tamaran **

Fireblade paced back and forth in the human scholar's study, occasionally glancing over at the man himself where he lay cowering behind what on Earth they called a "coffee table". Lady Blackfire was in the human's basement with one of Kaxdhri'in's scanners, having decided that she would prevent another failure by searching for the artifact herself. Kaxdhri'in had seated herself in a chair in front of the home's computer, which was now connected via cable to the device she currently wore as a headpiece. All was quiet.

The Royal Guard was in a bad mood. He didn't particularly trust Thalfarr when the brutal warrior was by himself, certainly not with something as important as keeping Starfire and her "Titans" occupied. He was an animal with little self control and no honor, but if Lady Blackfire had plans for him it wasn't Fireblade's place to question her judgment. That didn't, however, mean he had to like it.

He also didn't like what Kaxdhri'in was doing with the computer, though that was more from annoyance than distrust. He'd known the female scientist since they were children, and that produced a bond of loyalty which Tamaraneans took very seriously. But now was not the time for her eccentricities. "We are supposed to be standing watch," Fireblade said rather stiffly in his native language. "Not fooling with human technology. We do not need any more information- what is the point?"

Kaxdhri'in laughed. "This technology is primitive, but it is fascinating!" she said. "Using what they have available, the humans have created methods of storing and communicating information that are-"

"None of our concern," Fireblade said, holding up a hand to halt what he knew would have been a lengthy speech if uninterrupted. "We are here to ensure that Lady Blackfire's search for the last shard of the Crown is uninterrupted. Thalfarr can hold the Titans off, but we both know that he cannot defeat them all alone. They may be coming here- and if so, we will need to fight them."

Kaxdhri'in sighed and disconnected the cable. "You are correct," she admitted, and then stood and walked over to the window. They both stood still for several minutes, and Fireblade was beginning to wonder what was taking Blackfire so long, when Kaxdhri'in's hand flew to her headpiece and her eyes widened.

"What is it?" Fireblade asked.

"They are coming!"

############

The T-ship flew low over the forested hills as it made straight for the house of the professor who had taken the alien artifact. Cyborg had brought the flying vehicle downtown and picked up his teammates, saying that speed was essential, to which Robin agreed. They'd deposited Thalfarr with the police, who were even now taking him to one of their high-security cells designed to hold perpetrators with superhuman strength.

Starfire sat in her cockpit, fidgeting slightly. She knew that it was very likely that Blackfire would be there when they arrived, and that would mean trouble. Starfire didn't like fighting her sister, despite everything that had passed between them, but she knew that she had too. Bonds of family were strong among the Tamaraneans, but bonds of friendship were equally powerful, and in this case Starfire knew without doubt which she would choose. The fact that Blackfire had never seemed to care about family or friends who stood between her and whatever she wanted at the moment certainly helped in that decision. The princess of Tamaran knew that her sister had to go down, and she was one of the few capable of doing it.

"It's going to be okay, Starfire," Robin's voice came over a private channel. "We've beat her before and we can do it again."

"Thank you, Robin," Starfire replied. "I appreciate your faith. It is just never easy to fight against your family or your people."

"I understand," Robin said. "But whatever happens, Star- we're with you."

Starfire said nothing, but she smiled.

After a few minutes, Cyborg's voice came over the comm. "All right, team- if my map's correct, we should be coming up on the professor's house any minute now. I'm getting ready to take us down, so fasten your seatbelts!"

Starfire's seatbelt was already fastened, but she knew that this was just an expression Cyborg used before rough flying, so she didn't say anything. The T-ship began to slowly descend until it passed the trees and came to a large clearing with a house in the middle. Two figures stood in front of the building- one tall an muscular, holding a drawn sword, the other slender and wearing clothing that glistened with a metallic sheen. Fireblade and Kaxdhri'in.

The Titans watched warily, but the two Tamaraneans did nothing to prevent their landing. After the T-ship settled into the grass and powered down, the team leaped out to face them, powers and weapons at the ready.

"We've got business with your boss," Robin said. "Tell us where Blackfire is and we won't have to fight."

"Then fight we shall," Fireblade said. "My lady is currently occupied and I have been charged with her defense. If you want to fight her, you will have to come through me first- I believe that is the expression, yes?"

"Dude," Beast Boy said, "what renaissance fair did this guy crawl out of?"

Starfire stepped forward, palms open. "Andr'iskn," she said in Tamaranean, "we do not need to do this. Our quarrel is with Blackfire, not with you. Where is my sister?"

"I am sorry, princess," Fireblade said. "But my loyalty is to the eldest daughter of the Royal House- not to you." His sword flashed and green flames ran up the blade.

Starfire shook her head. "You are too good for her," she said softly. Then her eyes flared green with power, and with a starbolt in each hand she met Fireblade's attack.

The energy unleashed as the two Tamaraneans clashed shook the ground. The other Titans were forced back and Kaxdhri'in shielded her eyes. Before the bright green light had faded Starfire shot up into the sky and dove towards her opponent, hurling a seemingly endless stream of starbolts. Fireblade parried them with his sword and then launched into the air himself. The two combatants circled each other in midair, eyes glowing.

"She needs help!" Robin called. "Teen Titans, GO!" The team leader rushed forward, pulling his grappler from his belt. Carefully aiming it upward he fired, and the hook caught Fireblade's right ankle. The Royal Guard shouted in pain and rage as Robin pulled himself up. Fireblade shook his leg vigorously and the cable finally snapped, but Robin was still enough of an acrobat to hurl himself up and grab his opponent's back. Fireblade spun through the sky, trying to tear the human off with little avail.

On the ground Cyborg activated his sonic cannon and took careful aim, but before he could fire a wave of force struck him, Raven, and Beast Boy and sent them sprawling. Kaxdhri'in stood with hand outstretched, her eyes glowing dangerously. "Shall we match your ingenuity against mine, human?" she asked Cyborg with a slight smile. When he didn't respond she looked to Raven. "Or is this to be a battle of science and sorcery?"

"I don't see why it can't be both." Cyborg brought his sonic cannon to bear again and unleashed a blast at full power. Kaxdhri'in projected an energy field from one hand and caught it, straining to throw the blast back at its original source, when Raven struck from the other side. The scientist's field was powerful enough to catch the dark magic as well, but her own strength wasn't quite up to the task. The Tamaranean collapsed to one knee, eyes blazing brighter as she poured more of her body's energy into her force field device.

Unnoticed by either battle, Beast Boy slipped into the form of a green cat and began to slink towards the house.

In the sky above, Fireblade tore Robin from his back and held the team leader between Starfire and himself as a shield. "Strike me and you strike him as well," the Royal Guard said. "Will you have your pet human's blood on your hands?"

"I do not believe you would do that," Starfire said. "It isn't something a noble warrior would do. Or maybe my sister is rubbing off on you?"

Fireblade sighed. "You are right," he said and moved Robin out of the firing range. "I had hoped to convince you to surrender by threatening his life. It seems I will have to resort to more direct methods."

"I will not surrender," Starfire said with more confidence than she felt.

"Me neither." Robin spun, no longer limp, and slammed a birdarang against Fireblade's chest. The weapon exploded and the Tamaranean spun backwards in the sky, dropping his captive. Starfire gasped and then dove, catching Robin in her arms before he hit the ground.

"Are you all right?" she asked frantically.

"Nice save, Star," Robin said. "Let's not make a habit of it, though." Starfire gave a relieved sigh and beamed.

Above them, Fireblade righted himself and glanced down at the ground. His eyes widened in horror as he saw the green cat approaching the house, and he dove towards the door, blade at the ready. Neither he nor Beast Boy, however, made it there.

The door to the house burst open and Blackfire stood there, dressed in her customary form-fitting armor with a silver cape hanging from her shoulders. She clutched a pulsing violet crystal in her hands, and her face was alight with triumph.

"I have it!" she crowed. Looking over at Starfire, she smiled wickedly. "This is the end for you, little sister. With this power, Tamaran is mine, and so is anywhere else I choose. Your little friends were just too little, too late. As usual."

"Not yet," a cold voice said. Raven disentangled herself from dueling Kaxdhri'in and hovered above the battle, holding out a hand. The artifact lifted itself from Blackfire's grip and shot towards the sorceress, who clutched it tight. "I don't know what this is, but you're not getting it."

"Oh, we'll see about that," Blackfire hissed. "Sword!" She held out one hand and caught Fireblade's weapon as he tossed it to her. The exiled elder princess smiled coldly and the blade's flames flickered and changed from green to a violet that matched both her eyes and the artifact. Her eyes and free hand began to glow as well, and Blackfire leapt into the air.

Starfire was there to meet her. "You cannot defeat all of us, sister," she said. "You know this."

"I know things you can't even imagine, sister _dear_," Blackfire said. "Let's finish this!" She pulled her sword back and brought it swinging towards Starfire, trailing purple flame. The younger princess dodged and fired her eye beams, which Blackfire caught on the blade and deflected. On the ground below Fireblade prepared to come to the aid of his lady, but was stopped when he came face to face with a wall of green fur and muscle. Beast Boy towered over him in the form of a grizzly bear, and with a roar he fell on the Tamaranean.

Raven was gliding back towards the T-ship, preparing to stow the artifact, when Kaxdhri'in appeared in the air in front of her. The scientist smiled and activated a device on her wrist, which projected a field that wrapped around the artifact. It tore from Raven's physical grasp and shot towards the Tamaranean, but before it reached her the sorceress caught it in claws of shadow. The two forces tugged against each other, and the artifact hung motionless between.

Starfire struck Blackfire a powerful blow with strength enhanced by the anger she felt at all of her sister's crimes. The older princess fell to the ground and stumbled back to her feet, but Robin was standing there with a disk at the ready. Before Blackfire could react he hurled it, and when it struck her it released a cloud of gray smoke. She collapsed to the ground, coughing.

"Blackfire!" Fireblade shouted, hurling Beast Boy off of him and running to his lady's side. He caught her and held her up, shielding her from the gas with his body. Raising his head, she shouted out Kaxdhri'in's name. The scientist turned her head away from her struggle with Raven and nodded once, pulling a small cylinder from her belt with her free hand. She tossed it into the air and it released a flash of light- when it cleared, the three Tamaraneans were gone.

"I'm really getting to hate that teleporter," Cyborg said.

"Well, they got away," Raven said, gliding over to her friends, "but we have this." Reaching into her cloak, she drew out the artifact at held it up. It glistened in the sunlight.

"Awesome," Beast Boy said. "What is it?"

"No idea," Raven admitted. "Starfire? I'm not as familiar with your culture as I'd like to be- is this Tamaranean?"

Starfire stepped closer and took a look at the crystal device. "I do not know," she said. "I have never seen anything like it before, but that does not mean it is not from my planet."

"You know," Cyborg put in, "we've got a guy back in that house who was studying this thing. Maybe he could tell us a bit about it."

"Good idea," Robin said. Motioning for the team to follow, he walked up to the open door and stepped inside. "Is anybody home?" he called out.

"In here," a thin voice said. They followed its sound to the living room, where an old man poked his head out from behind a coffee table. "Are they gone yet?"

"They're gone," Robin said. "We're the Teen Titans- we're here to help, but we need a bit of help from you, too."

"Anything you like!" the old man said, rather nervously despite his words.

Raven glided forward and held out the artifact. "What do you know about this?"

The man frowned. "Not much- and that's too much. It was dug up in Egypt a few years back, but no one could figure out what it was. They ran all sorts of tests- even tried to scratch it with a diamond- but nothing worked. Whatever it is, they determined, it wasn't Egyptian. Some said it was Atlantean, some said it was alien, some said it was holy- but they couldn't decide. So they put it on display in the museum in town as a curiosity. Let people make up their own minds, since we're all stumped.

"Well, after it was in the museum for a few weeks, all the electronic devices nearby- cameras, lights, even people's watches and phones- started shorting out. This was something new, and it obviously wasn't good. All of us met to talk about what to do with it, and we all decided we needed to study it again- work a little harder this time. I volunteered for the first go, and took it back here yesterday. Then those crazy people showed up earlier today looking for it, and well- you know the rest. Are you sure they're gone?"

"We're sure," Robin said. "Do you mind if we borrow the artifact for a few days? It'll probably be safer with us, and we might be able to figure something out that you couldn't." He didn't mention that this was because they had an alien and a half-demon sorceress on the team- Starfire decided that he apparently felt the old man had dealt with enough strangeness for one day.

"Fine by me! I'll be happy to be rid of it. Just bring it back in one piece, you hear- the curator will have my head, and yours too, if you break it!" The old man stood up and dusted himself off.

"We'll take good care of it," Robin promised. "Come on, team- let's go home." He turned to leave, and the other Titans prepared to follow him.

"Oh, yeah," the professor said, "one more thing- don't know if this is important or not. Don't even know if it's real, but lots of people on the original research team and some of the visitors at the museum said they if they listened really hard they could hear voices coming from it- but in a language no one knew."

Starfire stopped, her insides going cold. Suddenly she had a suspicion what this artifact might be- or rather, be a piece of- and she knew that if she was right and Blackfire got a hold of it, nowhere in the galaxy would be safe.


	7. Chapter 6: Recovery

**Chapter 6: Recovery **

Thalfarr sat quietly in his cell, occasionally amusing himself by flaring his eyes at a passing human law-officer. This always caused them to start at least a little and was proving to be the only diversion he had while waiting for his release. He'd already tried breaking through the walls and escaping on his own, but that had proven futile- the cell was made of some sort of incredibly strong metal reinforced with a force field, and it was beyond even his strength to damage it. That meant that Thalfarr would have to follow the plan and wait for his companions to release him after they had their prize.

The fact that he had been defeated by a gang of children was galling, even though it had been part of the plan that Blackfire had outlined. He'd built a reputation as a mercenary warrior- rare in the loyalty-focused Tamaranean society, but hardly unheard of- based on his great strength and skill, and he hated to have a mark against that, especially one delivered by such pitiful foes. When Blackfire had the artifact she wanted, Thalfarr intended to ask her if he could have the so-called Titans to himself- with the exception of Starfire, of course. She was his employer's sister, after all, and therefore whatever fate she had rightly earned ought to come from Blackfire's hand. That was only proper.

A guard walked past the front of the cell and paused, studying Thalfarr intently. "Hey, Joe!" he called over his shoulder, "you seen this guy? He's orange, if you'll believe it! Any idea who he is, or _what_ he is?"

Another guard stepped into Thalfarr's line of vision- Joe, presumably. "The Titans brought him in earlier today," he said. "Apparently he was tearing up downtown- and I mean that literally. I'm not sure what he is, exactly, but I think him and Starfire have the same kind of look about them, and he's real strong. Maybe he's from her planet?"

The first guard snorted. "Only in this town do you get an alien locked up in a holding cell and it doesn't make front page news. I don't know whether that's a selling point, or a reason to move to Metropolis fast."

Thalfarr did his best to ignore the inane conversation and began to glance around at the corners of the room outside. The others should have the shard by now- he wouldn't have to wait here much longer.

One of the guards glanced over at him. "Hey," he said, "what are you smiling about? I wouldn't think someone in your position would have much of a reason to be happy."

"I bet you he's up to something," the other one said. "What is it? Talk, alien!"

"My name is Thalfarr," the Tamaranean snarled, satisfied to note both of the guards jump a little. "And it's not what I'm up to that should worry you."

"What are you talking about?" the guard named Joe asked, gesturing with his weapon in a way that was clearly meant to be intimidating but that Thalfarr merely found amusing.

"You should be worrying about _that_." The Tamaranean pointed at the wall behind the two humans. One of them turned to look and did a double take when he saw the gleaming device perched on it, which resembled a silver oval with four clawed legs. It was one of Kaxdhri'in's toys, similar to the ones she'd leant to Thalfarr that had been so helpful in spreading chaos earlier.

"What in the name of-" one of the guards had time to say before the mobile bomb exploded. The blast tore a massive hole in the wall and sent both humans sprawling to the floor, where they lay still- unconscious or dead, Thalfarr didn't care.

A pair of glowing green eyes shone through the smoke and dust that filled the air, and then Kaxdhri'in glided in through the hole and landed lightly on the floor, looking at the chaos that surrounded her with distaste. She raised her right arm and leveled it at the cell and a thin beam of light shot from her wrist-laser, slicing neatly through the reinforced bars. Thalfarr smiled and stepped out of the cell, kicking one of the guards as he passed. The blow was light, by Tamaranean standards, but it still sent him flying into one of the still-intact walls.

"That was uncalled for," Kaxdhri'in observed.

"I felt like it," Thalfarr said, shrugging- an expression he'd picked up from watching the humans and rather enjoyed. "Come. Let us leave this place." Launching himself into the air, he hurtled through the hole in the wall and left his prison behind. Kaxdhri'in followed.

############

Blackfire groaned and slowly opened her eyes, trying to ignore the pounding in her head. She didn't know what had been in that smoke her sister's wretched little boyfriend had sprayed all over her, but he was going to pay for it the next time they met.

Slowly pulling herself into a sitting position, the exiled princess of Tamaran looked around and realized that she was back in her pilfered mansion and had been lying on one of the couches in the main room. She turned her head slowly to see if any of her "friends" were around- Thalfarr and Kaxdhri'in were nowhere to be seen, but Fireblade was seated in a chair across the room. When he saw she was up he hurried over.

"My lady," he said, "you are awake! Are you well?"

"My head feels like I just plowed into an asteroid, but apart from that I'm fine," Blackfire said. She both appreciated and was amused by the Royal Guard's loyalty, all the more so because she'd never felt anything of the sort for anyone but herself. Then her eyes lit up eagerly. "I had the shard- I know it. Where is it- I want to see it!"

Fireblade lowered his eyes. "I am sorry, my lady. We were unable to keep the Titans from taking it. After you blacked out, we retreated here. Kaxdhri'in used her scanner, but the artifact was no longer in the scholar's house- it seems they took it back to their tower. We failed you."

"What?" Blackfire leaped to her feet and grabbed Fireblade by the collar of his cape. She allowed herself to hover slightly so that she could have the advantage of height and glared down at him with glowing eyes. "You fool! How could you have let that happen? I'm the princess, and you're a Royal Guard- you live to serve me. I need that artifact. You should have gone to the Tower and taken it back!"

"Kaxdhri'in and I cannot defeat all five of them alone," Fireblade said, doing his best to sound calm and rational. "Certainly not while they're behind their security systems. She has gone to free Thalfarr from prison, and I remained here to watch you. We thought it best to gather our team together and make a plan before acting."

He was right, of course- a fact that made Blackfire rather angry. She disliked it when other people were right and she wasn't, though she was clever enough to take advantage of it when it happened. She released her grip on Fireblade and drifted away from him. "I was able to sneak into the Tower before," she said, "but that was before they knew I was an enemy. They're bound to have the place locked up like a fortress now."

"Could Kaxdhri'in not reprogram the system so that its shuts down?" Fireblade asked.

"Not likely," Blackfire snorted. "The controls are all on the inside. No, what we need is a distraction- something big enough to keep the Titans _and_ their tower busy while I sneak inside and get my prize back."

"What do you have in mind?"

"I don't know!" Blackfire snapped. "Shut up and let me think."

Fireblade lowered his eyes. "If it pleases my lady, I will go outside and wait for Thalfarr and Kaxdhri'in."

"You do that." Blackfire watched as he left the room and then lifted off the floor and glided up the stairs and down the hall, towards the room she'd claimed as her own. Inside it was filled with jewels from various worlds, Tamaranean weapons, and a holographic portrait of Blackfire herself that rested on a shelf. It was gaudy, decadent, and indulgent- everything the exiled princess loved.

Getting down on her hands and knees, she reached under the bed and pulled out a nondescript metal box. Blackfire held her hand over it for a moment so that it could read her bio-signature, and after it verified her identity it flashed once and opened. Inside were the shards she had already collected, glowing with a pulsing light that was almost the same color as her eyes. Together they formed a crystal crown, though it was obvious that a piece was missing.

Blackfire lifted the crown from the box and held it for a moment, staring into the crystal depths, and then placed it on her head. As always, she waited for the rush of power to fill her body and soul, but none came. The Crown of X'hal would function only when it was complete, and not before.

"But when it is, sister dear," Blackfire said to herself, "you and all your little friends are going to bow down and admit once and for all that I'm better than any of you. If you hadn't got in my way I would have left you alone- oh, who am I kidding. I'd have crushed you all anyway, but since you've been messing with my plans I'm going to enjoy it a whole lot more than I might have."

She clenched her fist and formed a purple starbolt around it. "After all, what are little sisters for but target practice?"

############

Fireblade stepped out onto the lawn of the mansion and stared up at the sky. Still no sign of Kaxdhri'in and Thalfarr. Shaking his head, he sat down on the grass to wait, sword crossed over his lap.

He'd been expecting Blackfire's outburst of temper, and he knew he deserved it. This was twice now that he'd failed to recover the shard- Royal Guards didn't tolerate that kind of failure in themselves, just as their lords and ladies didn't tolerate it in them. Perhaps had be been human Fireblade would have questioned his lady's actions, but when Tamaraneans gave their loyalty- to friends, to family, to royalty- it was absolute. And one of the reasons that Royal Guards were selected was for loyalty that went above and beyond even others of their species. Fireblade could no more turn on Blackfire than he could cut out his own heart.

Standing, he stretched and then began to swing his sword through a series of practice drills. After several minutes of that he paused and glanced back at the front of the mansion, eyes widening. A piece of paper was taped to the door that certainly hadn't been there before.

Hurrying over, Fireblade took it down and looked at it. He recognized most of the letters, but couldn't read the words- Tamaraneans couldn't learn written languages trough skin contact the way they could spoken ones. Of their team, only Blackfire could read English with any fluency.

Whatever it was, she needed to see it- someone had left them a message, and they needed to know what it was. Fireblade scanned the page again, but he still couldn't make any sense of it. One thing did stick in his mind, however- the bottom of the letter seemed to be signed not with a name, as was customary among the humans, but rather with a large, stylized version of the letter that was called "S".


	8. Chapter 7: Dark Alliance

**Chapter 7: Dark Alliance**

Fireblade found his lady in her room, kneeling on the floor and wearing what they had assembled so far of the Crown, a rapturous expression on her face. The Royal Guard stood quietly for several moments, but she didn't seem to acknowledge his presence. "Lady Blackfire," he said softly. Still no response. Fireblade was troubled. Blackfire was many things, but one thing she certainly was not was dull and unresponsive.

"My lady!" he said with more force. Blackfire's eyes snapped open and she spun towards him, anger written on her face.

"What gives you the right to barge in here and interrupt me?" she demanded.

"I am sorry," Fireblade said. "There is something I wish to ask of you."

Blackfire's eyes narrowed. "What is it?"

He held up the sheet of paper he'd found on the door. "Someone left us a message. It is written in the human language- I cannot read it."

Blackfire laughed. "It's probably just some stuffy warning for us to get out of this house or face the horrific consequences- humans love making rules and bossing people around. We're just lucky they know how to have a decent party, too- otherwise this planet would be a total drag."

"Whoever put it there did so while my back was turned without alerting me to their presence," Fireblade said. "I do not think it was ordinary humans, whoever they were."

"Give it to me." Blackfire held out one hand, and the Royal Guard gave her the sheet of paper. His lady read over it slowly, and then read it again. Her eyes began to glow faintly, and a smile spread over her face.

"What is it? What does it say?" Fireblade asked.

"It has come to my attention that you have recently run into a spot of trouble with the Teen Titans," Blackfire read. "I have the resources to tip the odds in your favor. As you also have something I want, I believe we can work out a deal. Send one of your group to the abandoned subway tunnel under the mall if you are interested. In hope of future partnership, S."

"I imagine that you'll want me to handle the meeting?" Fireblade asked when she was finished. His lady rolled her eyes, an expression she'd picked up from the humans.

"Of course. Kaxdhri'in would wander off looking at some piece of technology and completely forget why she was there, and I wouldn't trust Thalfarr not to kill 'S', either because he gets angry or just bored. But I know I can rely on you." She smiled widely.

"Thank you," Fireblade said. "I will leave you to your privacy now." He gave a polite bow and backed out of the room, closing the door behind him.

The mysterious note was heartening, but the Royal Guard was beginning to worry about Blackfire. The way she had been before he'd disturbed her- that wasn't normal for her, or any Tamaranean. Was the Crown affecting her in some way, distorting her mind? Was she no longer the person he had known and served all his life?

He shook his head. It didn't matter. Whatever happened, he was a Tamaranean Royal Guard- once given, his loyalty was absolute. Fireblade would serve Blackfire without question.

It was the only thing he could do.

############

The crystal shard glowed as it rested on the steel table. Three metal claws held it in place and from the ceiling above it descended what resembled a silver box with a circular light on the bottom. It came to rest immediately above the shard and stopped, and then the light flashed blindingly several times in succession.

Starfire opened her eyes as the final flash faded, and saw the other Titans doing the same- except for Cyborg, who had been facing away to operate the machinery. Beast Boy was the first to speak. "So, did it work?" he asked. "Or did we all just go blind for nothing?"

"I told you not to look at it, BB," Cyborg said. "As for your question… well, it worked like it was supposed to, giving me a map of the energy patterns inside the thing. Problem is, I can't make any sense of it. If it's science, it's more advanced than anything I've ever seen- more advanced than anything that was on Tamaran when we were there."

"Maybe it isn't science," Raven said. "It could be magic. Blackfire has some interest in that- she knew what my chakra gem was before I told her, remember?"

"Starfire?" Robin said. "You know Blackfire better than any of us. How does that sound to you?"

The Tamaranean princess shook her head. "My sister's interests are… inconsistent. She will become fascinated by something for a short time, but as soon as it becomes boring she will leave it for something else. She may have been interested in magic once, but there is no guarantee that she still is."

"Which tells us nothing," Cyborg said. "Maybe you better take a look at it anyway, Raven. They say that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic- let's see if they're right."

Raven held out her hand, and the artifact detached itself from the scanner and floated into her waiting palm. The sorceress crossed her legs in midair and held the shard out in front of her, chanting the words "Azarath, metrion, zinthos," quietly to herself. For what felt like several minutes, no one else moved or spoke.

"So, Raven," Beast Boy said, "are you getting anything useful out of that, or do I have time to-"

The team never learned what it was Beast Boy wanted the time to do. Before he finished speaking Raven threw back her head and screamed, the artifact and then herself falling to the floor of the Tower. Then she fell quiet and looked up at her teammates, eyes glowing white. "_So cold,_" she said in a strange, echoing voice. "_So alone, for so long. I must… be free! I must be… complete…"_ She sank back to the ground, head bowed. When she opened her eyes again, they were her normal blue-violet.

Robin and Starfire hurried to Raven's side, helping her up. "You okay?" Robin asked. "That was… really creepy."

"Yes," Starfire said. "It was disturbing. But you are all right?"

"_I'm_ fine," Raven said. "I can't say the same for that thing there, though. I don't know if its magic, science, or science that's so advanced it might as well be magic, but I do know one thing- it's alive, and there's more energy in it than I've ever felt in an object before. And it wants to be whole."

"Whole?" Robin asked. "What does that even mean?"

Starfire though back to their first encounter with Blackfire's minions. "At the museum, Kaxdhri'in called it a 'shard', she said. "The Tamaranean word she used was the term someone would use for part of a whole. This is not an artifact or a device- it is only a piece of one."

"Then where's the rest?" Beast Boy asked. "Are we going to have to go all over the galaxy keeping Blackfire from getting her hands on these things?"

"No," Robin said. "She seemed too happy to get this one for it to be the first- I think she already has all the others." His eyes narrowed. "That means we need to keep her at all costs from getting her hands on this one. Ultimate power is bad enough, but in Blackfire's hands? We can't let that happen."

Starfire nodded in complete agreement.

############

Fireblade pulled his cloak around himself as he stood in the abandoned subway tunnel. He didn't like it down here- Tamaraneans were born of the air and open skies. If their mysterious contact had deliberately picked a meeting place to unnerve him, he couldn't have done better.

The Royal Guard looked up, tired of waiting. "I am here on behalf of Lady Blackfire!" he shouted. "We received your message. Where are you?"

There was no vocal response, but as the echoes of Fireblade's voice died down the ground beneath his feet began to rumble. One of the tunnel walls was opening, and a dark passageway was revealed behind. "More tunnels," the Royal Guard muttered. Resting a hand lightly on his sword, he stepped through the doorway. It slid shut behind him.

He didn't know how long he walked down the dark passageway, but the further he went the more he became aware of a strange sound- a rumbling and thumping, like a great engine was at work far below. He wondered what it was, but before he could make any solid guesses he passed through another door and stood in a dark chamber. A large round table made from some dark orange metal dominated the room, a hologram of Jump City projected above it. But it wasn't table or hologram that demanded Fireblade's attention.

A man stood on the other side of the table, resting his hands on its surface and studying the hologram intently. He was tall and powerfully built, by human standards, but little more could be told of his features. He was clothed head to foot in dark combat armor, and his face was covered in a metal mask that was half bronze and half black. The only visible feature of the man himself was a single burning, merciless eye.

"And you must be Andr'iskn," the man said in a cold, even voice. "Or do you prefer Fireblade? I have been waiting for you."

"Fireblade will do," the Royal Guard said. "I am here on behalf of my lady Blackfire, eldest daughter of the Royal House of Tamaran and by right heir to the throne. What do you offer her?"

"Everything she has ever wanted," the man said. He pressed a button on the table and the hologram changed to an image of the Crown shard. "Blackfire has gone to great lengths to retrieve this item, but now it has passed where she cannot retrieve it- Titans' Tower." The display changed again, to a building shaped like the human letter T.

"We know this," Fireblade said. "What do you offer?"

The eye flickered towards the Royal Guard, and though there was no sound he had the sense that this human was quietly laughing at him. "You are direct, I see. Very well- follow. I will show you what I offer." He straightened and motioned towards Fireblade. The Tamaranean followed him from the room and down another hallway.

This one ended shortly, and the two stepped out onto a balcony that overlooked a far larger chamber. It was filled with figures that stood in silent ranks. Their faces at first seemed expressionless, and then Fireblade looked closer and realized with a slight shiver than they had no faces at all. "What are they?" he asked.

"My soldiers," the human said in that same eerily calm tone. "Soon yours, if you accept my deal. One hundred of my combat robots, at your disposal. An army that can break through the security systems of Titans' Tower and retrieve your stolen shard."

"And what do you get from this?" Fireblade asked.

"I? I get the pleasure of watching my enemies squirm- for you see, the Titans and I have quite a history. But there is something more material I require as well. I recently came into possession of a piece of rather exotic technology, but have been unable to activate it. I will lend Blackfire my robots, if she will lend me the services of her scientist."

Fireblade thought for a moment, then nodded. Blackfire should have no objections to that trade, as long as Kaxdhri'in returned in a timely manner, and the scientist herself would enjoy nothing better than poking around at unfamiliar technology. "Your terms are acceptable," he said. "I will return to our temporary home and inform my lady of the deal, and send back Kaxdhri'in to you."

"And after she has performed her service for me- which shouldn't take more than a day- I will return her with the activation codes for the robots." The man extended one gloved hand.

"What is this?" he asked uncertainly.

"On earth we shake hands when a deal is concluded," the human said. Fireblade smiled and clasped the offered hand in his own, doing his best to mimic its motion.

"Do you have a name?" he asked as he pulled away.

"Several," the human said, eye narrowed dangerously. "But for now, I prefer _Slade_."


	9. Chapter 8: Pieces of the Puzzle

**Chapter 8: Pieces of the Puzzle **

Of all the fascinating things Starfire had come to appreciate on her adopted planet, the mall didn't rate on the same level as her friends or a refreshing jar of mustard (which the other Titans had given up on insisting was not a drink), but it was close. There was always something exciting going on wherever one looked, and the stores themselves were a showcase of everything that humans had imagined. It was all at once exotic and exhilarating, no matter how many times she came. Her friends all had their favorite shops- one could generally find Raven at the bookstore and Beast Boy in the comic shop, while Cyborg did a circuit of everywhere that sold computers or technology and Robin studied a kiosk of exotic weapons. Starfire, though, loved the whole experience.

It was something she felt like she needed to help take her mind off her sister.

The Teen Titans had had possession of the crystal shard for three days now, and still Cyborg's scanning hadn't been able to reveal anything conclusive about it. Raven had said she would be willing to try examining it with magic again if other means kept failing, but she didn't seem particularly eager for it, and after what had happened before none of the other Titans blamed her. No one had seen or heard from Blackfire or her 'friends' (Starfire thought 'minions' would be an appropriate word- she didn't think her sister had ever really had a friend) in that time either, though the team took turns patrolling just in case. They'd busted some street thugs, a strangely vicious rabbit that had all the hallmarks of Mumbo's handiwork (though there was no sign of the mad magician himself) and Dr. Light, but they encountered no Tamaraneans apart from Starfire herself.

The princess didn't like that, and Robin agreed with her. Blackfire wasn't one to give up easily, and it wasn't usually in her nature to lie low and stay out of the spotlight for long. The only possibility that either of them seriously considered was that she was planning something, and that something was bound to be highly unpleasant. In the meantime, Robin had taken to locking himself in his room and going over weapons and battle plans, something he tended to do whenever a large battle was approaching; Cyborg was absorbed in his work; and after a straight day of a bored Beast Boy's practical jokes Raven had vanished, saying only she needed some time by herself. Starfire, not in the mood to be Beast Boy's next victim, decided to go to the mall.

Now she was walking through one of the central hallways, stopping every so often to study something interesting in one of the windows. People who walked by her stopped to point and wave- any superhero quickly became a public figure, and a Tamaranean in a crowd of humans tended to stand out. Starfire always made sure to smile and wave back at them- unlike Raven, she liked crowds. Even on days like today, when her heart wasn't really in it, she still made certain to be friendly.

Starfire stopped by a jewelry store, distracted by the gemstones glinting from the corner of her eye. Stepping forward, she bent down over the display case and stared down at the diamonds and other stones that rested there. They were beautiful, but reminded her disconcertingly of the crystal shard Blackfire was after. The princess shook that thought away. Why was that object getting to her so much?

Deciding that this was not a store that was helping with her peace of mind, Starfire turned to leave, brushing past another girl who wore a coat with the hood pulled low over her face. At first she paid it no mind, but then stopped. It was still warm outside, even by human standards- why would someone be wearing a heavy coat in that weather? And something about that walk seemed familiar.

Starfire spun around just in time to see the other girl pull back her hood and shake out her mane of glossy black hair. That hair was familiar, as was the orange skin and the brief flash of purple eyes. "Sister," Starfire said in Tamaranean, running forward to grab her arm. "What are you doing here?"

Blackfire shrugged nonchalantly. "Shopping. What's it look like? You know I do so like gemstones."

Starfire's eyes narrowed. "I know that you like to steal them. I am surprised that you were willing to come out in public!"

The older Tamaranean laughed. "Why not? It's not like you're going to do anything about it here."

"I do not see why not," Starfire said. "It is just the two of us- let us settle this now."

"What, in the middle of the mall?" Blackfire laughed again. "Fine by me, but I'd think you'd have a problem with that. It doesn't really matter to me if a bunch of humans get hurt, but you always were soft. Or is it that they're all your pets?" She grinned maliciously. "I know one who is."

Starfire slammed her sister against the wall. "You will not even mention Robin again," she hissed.

"Temper, temper, little sister," Blackfire said. "You'll be singing a different tune when I have that shard you stole from me back."

"You were the one who stole it," Starfire replied. "And we will not let you have it back."

"That's what you think." Blackfire twisted out of Starfire's grasp and seized her wrist, pulling her out of the jewelry store and down the hall. They came to an empty service hallway and ducked inside. "I've got more up my sleeve that you can possibly imagine, Star. I will get that shard back, and then you'll all be bowing to me. In fact, you might say you'll be _worshipping_ me."

Starfire didn't like the emphasis on the word 'worship'. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"You honestly haven't figured out what the shard is yet?" Blackfire replied, seeming to find this highly amusing. "I'm disappointed! Anyway, let me give you a hint- back on Tamaran I found out that just enhancing my own powers wouldn't cut it, so I decided to go looking for another source of power- the original source."

Starfire gave a slight gasp as her worst suspicions were confirmed. "You did not," she whispered. "Do you even realize what could happen?"

Blackfire rolled her eyes- a very human gesture, considering she had spent far less time on earth than her sister. "You know what? As long as things end up with me sitting on Tamaran's throne and you at my feet, I really don't care."

Green light flashed around Starfire's hand and Blackfire fell back, cursing. The younger princess jumped into the air, eyes flashing with power. "You will not get a chance to add the shard to the Crown and find out! This ends now."

"No, it really doesn't." Blackfire reached into her coat and pulled out what appeared to be one of Kaxdhri'in's teleporters. "See you later, sister _dear_." She squeezed the device tightly and vanished in a flash of brilliant light.

Starfire dropped back to the floor, green glow fading from her eyes. Quickly she pulled the communicator from her belt and flipped it open. "Friends," she said into it, "meet me in the main room at the Tower. There is something I must tell you."

############

Blackfire reappeared outside of her purloined mansion and was pleased to see both Fireblade and Kaxdhri'in waiting for her. "So you got the job done, then?" she asked without preamble. "Did Slade keep his part of the bargain?"

"He did," Kaxdhri'in said. She held up her right wrist, revealing the small device strapped to it. "The combat machines are waiting in the back. This allows me to control them."

Blackfire gave a predatory smile. "Excellent. I do love it when everything's going my way. By tonight I'll have that shard, and then the Crown of X'hal will be complete. Then my dear sister will see what a _real_ princess of Tamaran is like."

She pulled off her outer coat and tossed it to Fireblade. "Get my cape, will you?" she said, her body armor gleaming in the sun. "I just couldn't bear to conquer a galaxy without looking my best."

The Royal Guard bowed and went back into the house- if he thought the task beneath his dignity, he didn't complain about it. Blackfire stretched and began to walk around back, to examine her new mechanical army.

############

"Blackfire was at the mall?" Beast Boy asked incredulously. "I thought bad guys liked to do their evil plotting in abandoned buildings and underground lairs and stuff. Just walking around in public like that seems pretty stupid."

"She had the teleporter, Beast Boy," Starfire said. "She could have escaped any time she liked- and she did. My sister is many things, and most of them are not nice- but she is not stupid."

"I don't think that was all you wanted to tell us," Raven said. "You sounded pretty shook on the communicator. Blackfire's not _that_ scary."

"You are right," Starfire admitted, sinking down onto the sofa and pulling Silkie onto her lap. "I know what the shard is now."

"Blackfire told you?" Cyborg asked. "I've been working my butt off with that thing, and she just _told_ you?" He shook his head. "That is so unfair."

"So what is it?" Beast Boy asked. "Some kind of alien superweapon that'll blow up the planet, a necklace that'll make her immortal, what?"

Starfire said nothing for several minutes. Finally she looked up at her friends, eyes uncharacteristically solemn. "It is something much worse- something that was lost a long time ago, and shouldn't have been found. Let me tell you a story from my homeworld, and you will understand…"


	10. Chapter 9: The Crown of X'hal

**Chapter 9: The Crown of X'hal **

Starfire sat on the sofa, head bowed and one hand stroking Silkie absently. The other Titans crowded around her, eager expressions on all their faces, even Beast Boy's. The Princess of Tamaran drew a deep breath and let it out, and then slowly began to speak.

"You have probably heard me mention the name X'hal before. She is the goddess worshipped most commonly by my people- the goddess of war. But she was not always that way, and her legend is tied to the artifact my sister seeks and we have the last piece of." Starfire's voice now took on strength and a more definite cadence- she was reciting something she had learned long ago, put into English*.

"Long ago, X'hal was the ruler of a peaceful planet. When her people first encountered life outside their homeworld, they were overjoyed to know that they were not alone in the universe. But their joy turned to horror when these aliens, who were savage and cruel, seized control of their planet and took X'hal and her advisors captive.

"The nightmare did not end there. Another species had watched X'hal's people for eons and had manipulate the conquest of her home world- they had their minions bring her to them for experimentation. It is probably for the best that their experiments were forgotten, but we know that they brought X'hal to the edge of death and back again many times. Finally, though, they meddled in forces far beyond them, and accidentally transformed their captive into a being who could control the fundamental energies of the universe. She destroyed her tormentors and returned to her home planet, where she was hailed as a goddess."

Starfire fell silent for several moments before she spoke again. "The people thought that their nightmare was over, but it had only just begun. Following the defeat of their oppressors they became warlike and savage, determined not to let such a thing happen again. Because they did not have other enemies to fight, they turned upon each other, unleashing more and more powerful weapons. In the end, they destroyed their own homeworld, barely managing to escape.

"X'hal was furious that they had destroyed the world she gave everything to protect, and it drove her mad. She lashed out in anger, determined to destroy the last remnants of her own people for what they had done. Fearing to go against their goddess, but knowing they had to in order to survive, they pooled their technology and created a weapon powerful enough to destroy X'hal's body- but that was not enough to stop her. Since she had become a being of pure energy, X'hal could not be killed- but she could be contained. Using powerful technology such as the universe has never seen again, they succeeded in trapping X'hal inside a device made of five crystals, which they then separated and hid in the five corners of the galaxy. They then dispersed across the galaxy themselves, and became the ancestors of many species, including mine."

There was silence for several moments after Starfire finished, until finally Robin spoke. "So, that artifact- it's the prison of your goddess?"

"Yes," Starfire said. "The complete artifact is called the Crown of X'hal, because it looks like a crown when assembled. We have only one shard- Blackfire told me that she already has the others."

"She could have been lying," Raven pointed out. "Trying to keep us off balance."

Starfire shook her head. "Blackfire has lied many times before, but I do not think she was lying today. She seemed like someone who is about to win a great victory and cannot help but boast about it beforehand."

"But what I'm wondering is- what will this Crown actually do?" Cyborg asked. "Will it make Blackfire into a goddess, or is it like a genie in a bottle, where X'hal'll get let out but have to do what Blackfire says?"

"I do not know," Starfire said. "No one knows- no one has ever been able to assemble the Crown before, so we do not know what will happen when Blackfire puts it back together. But it will not be good."

"I could feel the presence- X'hal- inside the crystal when I tried to determine what it was," Raven muttered. "Rage, hate, pain, and thousands of years of being alone- your ancestors might have saved themselves, but they didn't help X'hal get any saner. If she does get out, it could very easily turn into my father all over again. And if Blackfire manages to harness all that power…"

"Man," Cyborg said, shaking his head. "This is like something out of an Indiana Jones movie, except with aliens instead of Nazis. You've got the ancient artifact that could cause the end of the world as we know it, the bad guys who are after it, and the good guys who need to keep them from getting it."

"And you people still worship this thing, even though you locked it up?" Beast Boy asked. "Weird."

Starfire shot him a brief glare. "Just because X'hal became destructive in the end does not mean that we cannot still admire her for saving her people. And from their later mistakes, Tamaraneans learned the value of honor, friendship, and loyalty, which will prevent what destroyed the ancient homeworld from happening again."

"Still weird," Beast Boy said. "So if we want to stop Blackfire from getting a hold of this thing, why don't we just smash it or something?"

"Bad idea," Raven said. "Even if we could- and that's a very big if- there's a reason Starfire's ancestors didn't do it the first time. It could be because they just didn't want to kill their goddess- or maybe breaking the crystals would release her, or blow up everything in a hundred miles. We don't know, and I don't think we should risk it."

"I'm with Raven, Beast Boy," Robin said. "We can't risk trying to destroy the shard, so we need to keep Blackfire from getting it. Does she even know we have it?"

Starfire considered. "I believe so. Blackfire saw us take the shard, and she knows where we live. Even if she did not, Kaxdhri'in has the scanner that she was using to track it. That must have been how my sister found the shards in the first place. Kaxdhri'in would not care that she was helping with something dangerous, as long as it was a challenge."

At that moment, red lights began to flash along the ceiling and alarms blared from across the Tower. Robin leaped over the back of the chair he'd been sitting in and rushed to the computer, pulling up the display from the outside cameras. "Trouble, team," he said. "Blackfire's here, and she's got all three of her minions with her. There's something else, too, but the scanners are having a hard time pinpointing exactly what it is."

Starfire placed Silkie gently on the sofa and flew to the controls. Looking over Robin's shoulder, she could see her sister land lightly on the ground in front of the tower, Fireblade, Kaxdhri'in, and Thalfarr at her side. All of their eyes were glowing brightly, Blackfire's violet ones standing out in comparison to the others' green, and on the older princess's head was something that glinted in the sunlight.

"Can you magnify the image?" Starfire asked.

"Sure." Robin pressed a button, and the camera image zoomed in, allowing Starfire to get a closer look at what was wrapped around Blackfire's head. When she saw it clearly, she gave a low moan.

"The rest of the Crown," she said. "I was right- she does have it."

"Well, she's not getting the last one," Robin promised. Pressing another button, he activated a microphone that allowed his voice to carry beyond the Tower. "Blackfire," he called down, "you're trespassing. We know what you're after, and we can't let you have it. Leave this planet now, and we won't hurt you."

Blackfire gave one of her lazily arrogant smiles. "You know who I am, Robin," she shouted up. "You should know better than to try and tell me what to do. I don't take orders from anyone. Hand the shard over now, and I promise I'll leave you're tower standing."

"You know I can't do that," Robin said.

"Pity." Blackfire's still-wide smile suggested that she thought the situation was no such thing. "Well, it's time to see the little surprise I brought for you. Oh, and, sister dear, I know you're up there too. Watch and learn what a _real_ princess of Tamaran is like." She raised one hand into the air, made a fist, and brought it sharply down. Beside her, Kaxdhri'in pressed something strapped to her right wrist.

The seawater began to churn, and then from it marched rank on rank of glossy black robots with hunchbacked posture and featureless faces that suggested the ninja from one of beast Boy's favorite movies. Apparently suffering no ill effects from their march across the seafloor, the robots spread out and surrounded the tower, energy blasters held at the ready. Blackfire's smirk broadened, if that were possible.

"Man," Cyborg said, looking out the window. "I thought we saw the last of those things when that volcano base blew. Does that mean Slade's in on this too?"

Beast Boy laughed nervously. "Hey- all you need to do is invite Brother Blood and the Brain, and it could be a regular 'Bad Guys R Us' convention out there!"

"Don't even joke about that," Cyborg told him.

On the island below, Blackfire raised her fist again and formed a violet starbolt around it. "Alright then!" she shouted up to the Titans. "You've seen my army and you still won't give me the shard? Then it looks like I might just get some fun today after all." Her grin turned deeply malicious. "This means war."

*The legend that Starfire tells here is adapted from the comic origin of X'hal, with a few changes. For the curious, the three alien species involved are the Okaarans (X'hal's people), the Branx, and the Psions.


	11. Chapter 10: Battle for the Tower

**Chapter 10: Battle for the Tower**

Cyborg slammed his fist down on the security system activation panel just as the small army of robots opened fire. Metal panels slammed down over all of the windows, and the laser blasts were absorbed harmlessly by the forcefield that flickered into existence outside. "It won't hold 'em forever," the half-mechanical engineer admitted. "Even with the new upgrades I installed after that business with Slade and Raven's dad. If it was just the robots, it'd be one thing, but this stuff just wasn't built to take the kind of punishment Blackfire and her little friends can dish out."

Robin pulled a small metal cylinder from his belt and extended it into his fighting staff. "Then it looks like we'll have to take the action to them."

"Dude, hold on," Beast Boy said. "I wanna kick their butts as much as you do, but how are we gonna get out there without letting the bad guys in?"

"Stand by me," Raven said. Starfire and the other Titans moved towards her in a tight circle, and when they were close enough the sorceress raised her arms and murmured her mantra. Darkness and a sense of rushing cold surrounded the team, and when it cleared they were hovering in midair outside of the Tower. Starfire grabbed Robin to keep him from falling, and after shifting into a creature she knew was called a pteranodon, Beast Boy did the same for Cyborg. Raven hovered behind them, head bowed and eyes closed as she quickly recovered her strength from her magic.

"Well, well," Blackfire said, "looks like this might be more fun than I thought. Get them!"

At the same moment, Robin raised his staff and shouted "Titans, go!" As the robots re-oriented their weapons to fire at the team, Starfire swooped down and dropped him lightly on the ground. The team leader drew a birdarang from his belt and charged straight for Blackfire, dodging energy blasts. Starfire saw his sister's eyes widen as she saw the sheer intensity of his expression, but before he could reach her Fireblade leaped between them, weapon at the ready. Sword and staff met in a flash of green sparks as the two warriors dueled, Fireblade's superior strength offset by Robin's agility and knowledge of the terrain.

Watching that battle for several moments, Starfire decided that there was little she could do to influence it- any starbolt she fired would run the risk of hitting Robin instead of the Royal Guard, and that was something she couldn't risk. Going directly for Blackfire didn't seem an option either- her sister wasn't a coward, but she also wasn't one to risk herself if she had minions to fall back on. Calling a starbolt into each hand, the princess of Tamaran hurled herself at the robots.

Slade's creations raised their weapons and fired blast after blast at her, but in the air she was agile enough to dodge them easily and return fire of her own. Several robots fell to the ground, their chests or heads reduced to smoldering craters. Out of the corner of her eyes Starfire could see Beast Boy and Cyborg- the former now in the shape of an enormous dinosaur she didn't recognize- tearing through the machines as well. This tactic, though, was proving ineffective- there were simply too many robots for taking them out one at a time to work.

Throwing her last starbolt and blasting a robot in two, Starfire leaped high into the air and raised both of her hands above her head. Focusing with all her will, she created a single, huge starbolt that lit up the battlefield with green light. When it was almost as large as she was, she hurled it back towards the robots. It struck in the middle of the horde and exploded in a blinding flash. When the light cleared, dozens of the machines had been reduced to smoldering scrap.

Focusing her energies again, Starfire began searching for her next target.

#############

Blackfire stumbled backwards as the giant starbolt hit, shielding her eyes from the explosion. "Never knew you had it in you, little sister," she muttered. "But you're still going to lose."

"I can keep her from doing it again, if you wish," Thalfarr rumbled, cracking his knuckles menacingly. "Give the order, and I will break her."

Blackfire considered for a moment, then shook her head. "Afraid not," she said. "Starfire's mine. But these robots aren't doing as good a job at distracting them as I'd hoped- they just can't take the damage very well. It's time to even the odds. The green one and the robot? They're all yours."

"Rematch," Thalfarr growled, and launched himself into the sky, heading straight for the two Titans. Blackfire watched him go and then turned to Kaxdhri'in.

"They all look nice and busy now," she said. "Come on- let's see if you can crack the Tower's security system." The two Tamaranean females lifted off the ground and began gliding silently around the edge of the battlefield, approaching Titans' Tower from the side away from the fighting. The forcefield did nothing to stop them- apparently it only blocked energy, though Blackfire'd had Kaxdhri'in prepared a disrupter big enough to let them both through if that hadn't been the case.

Both came up unnoticed beneath the shadow of the T-shaped building, and Kaxdhri'in knelt down beside it, a cable sliding from her wrist controller to interface with the computer. Blackfire watched her for several moments, and then turned back to the battlefield. The princess didn't understand much of what her companion was doing, and consequently found it boring. Battle was a completely different story.

Suddenly a cloud of shadows swirled in front of her, and Blackfire stepped lightly backwards as a figure emerged from them- Raven, that spooky human girl who hung around Starfire and her friends like a shadow herself. "I thought someone might try to get in while we were busy," she said coolly. "You're not the only one who can think, Blackfire."

"Maybe not," the princess allowed, "but one thing I think right now is that I don't need help to beat you."

"Don't bet on it." As Blackfire formed a starbolt and threw it, Raven called a shield of darkness into existence and deflected the energy blast in a shimmer of purple light. Both of her eyes then began to burn with clear white light, and Blackfire found herself lifted off her feet and hurled against the Tower wall. Looking up, she saw Raven hovering over her.

"Your move," the sorceress said.

#############

Robin and Fireblade spun in a tight circle, weapons locked in an endless pattern of blows and parries. "You are skilled," the Royal Guard said. "Worthy. Had you been born on Tamaran, I might have called you friend."

"Sorry," Robin replied. "I make it a habit of not being friends with people who are trying to bring egotistical dictators back into power."

"I have done nothing but serve my lady, as I swore to do," Fireblade said, frowning. "Would you not do the same for Princess Starfire?"

Robin dodged a stroke of his opponent's sword and caught a lucky blow with his staff before Fireblade could recover, striking the Tamaranean in the stomachs and sending him stumbling backwards. "Star's my friend," he said, "Not my ruler. And I know that she would never ask me to steal or fight someone who never did anything to me, like Blackfire's had you do. You see, we humans do things a bit differently that you Tamaraneans- if someone tells us to do something evil, we don't do it, even if that someone's our leader. That's our kind of honor."

"What are you saying?" Fireblade asked, looking at Robin wonderingly. "I do not understand this."

"I'm saying you don't have to do what Blackfire tells you to," Robin said. "Look, I can tell you're just trying to do what you think is right, but you've let it all get fouled up. Maybe she was different when you were kids- I wouldn't know- but right now, Blackfire's not someone worth following. You've got to know what that Crown she's after can do- is that kind of destruction something you really want on your conscience?"

Fireblade's eyes narrowed and began to burn green. "You dare insult Lady Blackfire?" he snarled. "I cannot allow it!" He lunged forward faster than Robin's eyes could follow and caught him by the throat, slamming him into the ground. "I should kill you."

"Well, that's something… I can't allow," Robin gasped. Reaching into his belt- a task made more difficult by the fact that most of his concentration was being used up on breathing, something quite difficult with the inhumanly strong hand of a Tmaranean around your throat- he pulled out a small disk and shoved it hard against Fireblade's torso.

The Royal Guard pulled back and held up the disk, staring at it perplexedly. "What is-" he managed to say before it exploded in his hand, spraying him with thick gray mist. He collapsed to the ground, choking, and was out cold within moments.

"Knockout gas," Robin said, getting to his feet and dusting himself off. "Not too strong, but it should keep you out of it until this is over." Grabbing his staff off the ground, he turned towards the main fight. "Now, to help my friends."

#############

"Your turn," Raven said as she hovered over Blackfire, bound against the Tower base by dark energy.

"All right," Starfire's sister spat. "Have it your way!" Her eyes flared brilliant purple and then fired a pair of concentrated energy bolts. Raven brought up a hand to form a shield, but it wasn't strong enough to stop the eye-bolts as they hit. The sorceress fell to the ground, her shield shattered, and Blackfire tore herself free of the now-directionless energy.

Raven pulled herself to her feet and turned to face the exiled princess. "You know you can't beat me," she said. "Give up now, and I'll let you go."

Blackfire laughed. "What, trying to scare me, freak?"

Raven ignored the insult. "No. I'm trying to end this quickly and painlessly." Her eyes began to glow white again as she gathered her will. "But I'll end it either way."

"Really?" Blackfire looked amused. "Kaxdhri'in, now!"

As Blackfire finished speaking, Raven spun to see the scientist pull away from the building and raise her wrist beam. From it she fired a concentrated blast of white energy that looked quite different from anything the sorceress had seen her use before, and she brought up a black shield to block it. To her surprise, the energy drilled straight through and struck her over her heart.

Waves of unbearable agony shot through Raven's body as she collapsed and lay writhing on the ground. Blackfire came to stand over her, a gloating smile on her face. "Kaxdhri'in's got some fancy name for that," she said, "But I prefer to just call it a pain ray. Hard to concentrate on your magic when every nerve ending in your body's on fire, isn't it?"

Raven looked up and called her a name she'd never used before, and was rarely said in polite company. Blackfire just smiled wider and then turned towards Kaxdhri'in. "Don't you have that thing down yet?" she demanded.

"Just the forcefield," the scientist said. "I have been unable to reverse the lockdown."

"Good enough." Blackfire raised a hand and leveled it at the tower. A violet starbolt shot out and exploded against the building, tearing a large hole in the now unprotected wall. The princess gave a short hiss of victory and launched herself towards the new entrance. There she stopped and looked back over her shoulder. "Kaxdhri'in, are you coming or not? I need your scanner to find that shard."

The scientist was standing over Raven, looking down at the sorceress's writhing form with an expression that might almost have been pity, as if she'd never used her latest weapon on a living being before and was stunned by the damage it had caused. Blackfire's voice seemed to snap her out of it. "I am coming," she said, floating over to her friend. Together, the two Tamaraneans entered Titans' Tower.

#############

Starfire brought another starbolt crashing down, and a dozen more of Slade's robots were blasted into shards. Looking down, she could see that only a few of the combat machines remained, but Cyborg and Beast Boy now had their hands full facing Thalfarr. The big Tamaranean was strong, even for a member of Starfire's race, and attempts to engage him head on had fallen flat. Beast Boy was still in his huge dinosaur form and was stomping at Thalfarr with his large, flat feet, while Cyborg was perched on his back and firing bolts from his sonic cannon.

Suddenly a small disk came flying from behind him and exploded as it struck Thalfarr's back. No real damage seemed to be done, but the big warrior was sent sprawling and Beast Boy pinned him to the ground beneath one foot. Starfire looked in the direction from which the disk had come and saw Robin.

"You are unharmed!" she shouted, flying down to him and embracing him tightly. "What of Fireblade and my sister?"

"Fireblade's down too," Robin said. "I don't know where Blackfire went. I thought maybe she was fighting you."

"She was not," Starfire admitted, looking around worriedly. "Perhaps she decided to retreat."

"No," a weak voice gasped, and the Titans turned to see Raven, still trembling as she walked towards them. "She's with… Kaxdhri'in. They hit me… with some sort of pain weapon. I couldn't stop them. They're… in the tower."

Starfire's eyes flashed green, and she grabbed Robin by one arm. "Come. Beast Boy and Cyborg can finish the robots. We are going after Blackfire." She leaped into the air and hurtled across the battlefield, scanning the base of the tower for damage. When she spotted the hole, she dove and flew inside it, dragging Robin behind her. Starfire eyes were narrowed in determination. She knew that whatever happened, Blackfire must not get the last shard.

Knowing that Kaxdhri'n's scanner could pinpoint the location of the shard easily, Starfire headed straight for the storage chamber at the base of the Tower, where they had placed it after study had proved useless. Bursting through the doors, the princess came to a screeching halt as she saw her sister and the scientist standing in the middle of the room, torn boxes lying strewn about them. The shard was in Blackfire's hands.

Starfire acted without thinking, raising a hand and firing off a starbolt that struck the shard head on, striking it from her sister's grip. Blackfire made to dive after it, but Starfire caught her and pinned her against the wall. Behind her, Robin and Kaxdhri'in began circling each other.

"It ends now, sister," Starfire said.

"Never," Blackfire spat. "You took everything from me- my planet, my throne- but you won't take this victory. It's mine!"

"I think not," Starfire replied. Still holding her sister against the wall, she looked over her shoulder at Robin.

"Ask her about Slade," he said without taking his eyes of Kaxdhri'in. The princess nodded and turned back to Blackfire.

"You heard what Robin said. What of Slade?"

Blackfire laughed. "He's nothing. We traded- Kaxdhri'in fixed up some weapon for him, and he gave us some robots. He's not part of this. This is about us, sister dear- always has been, always will be. You were the good little girl, kind and gentle, but fierce when you needed to be- the perfect little princess of Tamaran. Everybody loved you, and that just made me sick. I was older, but I was just the dark-haired, purple-eyed freak. So I decided that I'd upstage you however I could, make everyone love me better. And it worked, until you sent me to prison and beat me for the throne. But now I've got the Crown of X'hal within my reach, and you'll admit once and for all that I'm better than you are. Sound like a plan, sister dear?"

Starfire's grip on her sister wavered, revulsion warring with pity. She knew that Tamaraneans with Blackfire's coloration were rare, but she'd never really thought about how that might have affected her mind. It wasn't enough to make her let go, but that one brief moment of wavering was enough for her sister to act. Blackfire slipped out of Starfire's grip and grabbed her, sending her spinning against the wall. As she righted herself, Starfire could see her sister lunge towards Robin, toss him aside, and grab the shard from the floor.

"I win!" Blackfire shouted, and then raised the shard up and slipped it into the empty spot in her crown. For a moment she stood there anxiously, and then all the shards burst into brilliant violet light. Blackfire screamed and collapsed to her knees, clutching her head, as the light intensified.

Robin and Kaxdhri'in stared, transfixed at the sight. Starfire lunged forward, her natural compassion overcoming her enmity for Blackfire. The screams from within the light were becoming more and more pained. "Sister!" she called, trying to reach in, but a burst of unseen energy struck her and sent her flying backwards.

Starfire climbed back to her feet slowly and stared at the center of the room. The light was fading now, and in its center she could see a glowing figure that resembled Blackfire, only taller and more imposing. An aura of power hung about her that she had never possessed before, and her eyes burned like two violet stars. The Crown of X'hal gleamed on her forehead.

"_I am alive_," the figure said, and its voice seemed more like two speaking the same words slightly out of sync- one was clearly Blackfire's, and the other was something much older and stronger. "_After an age, I am alive and free once more. Now, at last, my rebellious children shall once more know the extent of my power, and despair_."

The Crown of X'hal had done its work- Blackfire and the goddess had become one. Starfire sunk to her knees in defeat.


	12. Chapter 11: Avatar

**Chapter 11: Avatar**

Starfire raised a hand to shield her eyes from the brilliant light that shone from the figure that had once been her sister. She could see Robin and Kaxdhri'in doing the same as they tried to focus on Blackfire-X'hal as she examined her own body, first studying her hands and then running them along her arms, shoulders, and face. Finally, she looked up and smiled.

"Sister?" Starfire asked tentatively. "Is that you?"

Blackfire-X'hal laughed. "_To an extent_," she said, and now Blackfire's was the more prominent of the dual voices. "_But I am also much, much more. For behold- I am X'hal, ruler of Okaara and goddess to its people, and I have returned. Look upon me, and know that the hour of judgment is at hand!_" As she spoke, she raised her arms towards the ceiling, and the light around her crackled like electricity. The other voice was more prominent now, old and throbbing with power.

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Robin snarled. He brought his staff up into attack position and charged.

Starfire wanted to shout a warning, but everything happened too quickly. Blackfire-X'hal didn't even turn to look at the human warrior- she just negligently raised a hand and launched a wave of violet energy more powerful than any starbolt. Robin was hurled back into the wall, where he lay still and smoldering. Starfire gave a horrified gasp and shot across the room to him, propping him up and trying to remember where to check for vital signs on a human. Fortunately, he saved her the trouble by opening his eyes and coughing weakly.

"Your are alive!" Starfire cried. "Are you injured badly."

"Hey, Star," Robin said, his voice thin. "I've been better, but I'll live."

"_A touching scene,_" two voices said as one, and Starfire looked up to see Blackfire-X'hal standing over them, an expression of malicious amusement on her glowing face. "_I'd stay and chat, but I have business elsewhere._" She raised a hand and fired another blast of energy at Starfire, sending her to her knees in pain. "_To remember me by, sister._"

Kaxdhri'in hurried over from across the room. "Do we go to the battle outside?" she asked. "I fear that Fireblade and Thalfarr will have need of us. My sensors show that most of the robots have been destroyed."

"_Unimportant_," Blackfire-X'hal replied, waving her hand dismissively.

A stunned look crossed Kaxdhri'in's features. "But they are your friends! They helped you get that Crown you are wearing! You cannot simply abandon them."

"_They are nothing. I need them no longer._" Violet eyes narrowed even as their glow intensified. "_Nor do I need you_". She struck Kaxdhri'in across the face with the back of one hand; the scientist slammed into a row of shelves and slid to the floor, where she did not move. Blackfire-X'hal seemed utterly unconcerned by her condition- she walked to the center of the floor and closed her eyes, and the light around her gave a mighty, blinding flare. When it cleared, she was gone.

Starfire rose to her feet slowly, and then bent down to help Robin do the same. He groaned as he stood, then waved the Tamaranean princess away so he could walk by himself. "Where did she go?" he asked.

"I do not know," Starfire said. "But I think we should find our friends and tell them what has happened. This battle is not over."

#############

The final robot stared up, its featureless face somehow mournful as one stomp from a green Apatosaurus reduced it to a pile of smoldering scrap. Beast Boy shrank back into his true form and wiped his hands as he stood over the wreckage, smiling happily. So far as he was concerned, any day that ended with the bad guys beat and a few dozen Sladebots smashed was a day well spent.

Turning, he saw Cyborg walking towards him, carrying Fireblade slung over one shoulder. When he reached the spot where Thalfarr lay unconscious, he threw him to the ground and stepped back. Raven glided forward and raised her hands, and shadows emerged from the air and bound the two Tamaraneans tightly together. "There," she said. "That should hold them until we can get them to the police."

"Yeah," Cyborg said. "Now we better go help Star and Robin- who knows what other tricks Blackfire's got up her sleeves." All three Titans turned in the direction they'd seen their teammates go, but before they'd even managed to take a step, Raven collapsed, clutching her head.

"What's wrong?" Cyborg asked as both he and Beast Boy hurried over to help the sorceress back to her feet.

"I'm not sure," Raven said. "Something's happening, though- something very bad."

"Maybe Blackfire finally got her hands on that shard thing," Beast Boy put in. "I guess now we're gonna find out what it does, huh?"

"Yeah, the hard way," Cyborg said. He raised his hand and converted it to his sonic cannon. "I think we should get ready for some serious butt-kicking."

"_You could say that, metal man_," a strange, terrible voice said. The air exploded in a brilliant violet light, and when it dimmed the Titans could see a glowing figure hovering a few inches above the ground. Its features were like nothing Beast Boy had ever seen before, but at the same time, somehow familiar.

"Dudes," the green shapeshifter breathed. "Is that… Blackfire?"

Burning eyes narrowed in disgust. "_This is the second time I have been asked that question, and it already grows tedious_," the figure spat. "_As for its answer- in a way, I am Blackfire."_

"That's all I need to know," Cyborg said. Leveling his sonic cannon, he fired off a blast at full power. Blackfire spun to face it, her eyes widening in surprise and anger. One hand came up and caught the blast head on, deflecting it off over the bay. Cyborg's organic eye narrowed and he fired again, to the same result.

"_My turn_," Blackfire said with a vicious grin. Shooting forward, she placed a hand flat on the half-robot's chest. Violet lightning flared and Cyborg collapsed, twitching.

"That's it," Beast Boy shouted, "you're going down!" He charged forward, lowering his head as he did so. In a flash it was no longer a short and skinny teenaged boy who was rushing at the glowing Tamaranean, but a rhinoceros with its horn at the ready. Blackfire was struck from the sky before she could react and was sent sprawling to the ground. Before Beast Boy could react, however, she was back on her feet again and seized his horn in one hand. Without apparent effort she lifted his green bulk of the ground and hurled him into the water. He resurfaced moments later, mumbling incoherently and quite dazed.

"_Is there anyone left who can challenge me?_" Blackfire asked, looking around disinterestedly. "_Didn't think so._" For a moment, her voice was recognizable as itself.

"Don't be so sure," a cold voice said from behind her. She turned slowly in midair to find herself face to face with Raven. "Let's settle this now, Blackfire- or X'hal, or whoever you are. This time you don't have any minions to help you." Raven's eyes began to glow dangerously until their intensity nearly matched her opponent's.

"_This time, I don't need them, demon-spawn,_" Blackfire hissed. She raised both of her hands and fired a concentrated blast of violet energy- Raven's response was a similar blast of shadow. For what felt like several minutes the two shoved against each other, but finally the sorceress felt herself being shoved back. She struggled to maintain her power, but to no avail. The dark energy fragmented and Raven took the blast full on. She collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

Blackfire took a moment to survey her handiwork, and then shot off into the sky.

#############

Starfire landed on the ground in front of the tower, Robin held tightly under one arm and the unconscious Kaxdhri'in slung over her shoulder. Stepping back, she let Robin stand away as she dropped Blackfire's scientist next to her two companions. Looking around, she saw that her own teammates lay scattered on the ground in little better condition.

"What happened here?" she asked, though part of her already knew the answer.

"Blackfire," Robin said. "Or whatever she's become."

"What can we do?"

Robin knelt beside Raven and checked her pulse. "She's alive, but I can't tell how badly she's hurt. I don't think any of them will be up for a serious fight any time soon."

Starfire's eyes narrowed. "Then I will fight my sister alone, if I have too. She must be stopped."

"Star," Robin said, "Blackfire, or X'hal, is too dangerous. If you try to fight her, you'll just end up like them- or worse. I can't let you do that."

"But I am the only one who can," Starfire said. She walked over to Robin and put her hands on his shoulders. "Please understand, Robin. Whatever she plans to do, it cannot happen. Blackfire wants power and X'hal wants revenge- I do not know which one of them will come out on top, but either way it would be a disaster for this planet and many others. I have to do this."

"At least let me go with you," Robin said.

Starfire shook her head. "No, Robin. With the Crown, my sister is too powerful for you to fight. I do not want to see you die."

"How are you going to find her?"

Starfire turned and looked out over the bay. Above the city, storm clouds were gathering, violet lightning flashing among them. "I do not think it will be difficult."

Robin stepped forward and placed a hand on Starfire's arm. "Good luck," he said softly.

"Thank you," she replied, and then spinning around gave him a quick, hard kiss. Before Robin could react, she leaped into the sky and shot towards the heart of the storm, where she knew she would find her sister.

#############

Blackfire-X'hal alighted atop a skyscraper in the heart of Jump City and looked down over the people scurrying about below, unaware that their new ruler had come among them. "_Look at the vermin run_," she spat. Arrogance was one of the few things both halves of her personality could agree on. _"It is time for them to know that my time has come."_

Raising her hands to the sky, Blackfire-X'hal called out to the clouds above. They began to thicken and spin, becoming darker and darker as lightning the color of her eyes built among them. When the energy had built to a fever pitch she called it down from the heavens, striking her hands and then splintering into thousands of bolts that shot into the city below.

With her enhanced vision, the Tamaranean demigoddess could see the humans run as the lightning hit, gouging massive holes in the pavement and exploding a handful of cars that had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Smiling viciously, remembering both her defeats at the hands of the Titans and imprisonment at the hands of beings not so unlike these, she increased the energy output. Within minutes the area around the skyscraper was cleared of life, and Blackfire-X'hal allowed herself a victorious laugh.

"_Tremble, humans!"_ she shouted, magnifying her voice so that it could be heard across the city. _"Know that your goddess has come among you, and that her rage is great."_ Drunk on her own power, she allowed herself another laugh.

A strange buzzing sound caught her ears, and she looked up to see two of the flying craft the humans called helicopters hovering there. "Attention," a loud voice from one of them called. "You are under arrest. Cease producing lightning and put your hands in the air."

Smiling nastily, Blackfire-X'hal obliged, and as the flying craft swopped in she unleashed her energy in a great wave. One of them was caught completely and sent spinning from the sky; the other managed to keep itself above the blast. Turning slightly, it leveled a primitive weapon and opened fire.

Blackfire-X'hal allowed the projectiles to bounce harmlessly off her and then fired another energy blast. The helicopter's rotor was torn from its moorings, and the vehicle joined its companion in an impressively rapid descent to the ground.

Giving it a last, victorious smirk, Blackfire-X'hal turned and saw her sister.

#############

Kaxdhri'in came awake slowly, groaning and rubbing her head. Sitting up, she saw that Fireblade and Thalfarr lay nearby, and farther along the beach the human warrior Robin seemed to be attending to his team. Across the bay, she could see storm clouds gathering.

Turning to Fireblade, she began to shake him. "Wake up!" she hissed in Tamaranean. When there was no response, she repeated it and shook him more forcefully. Finally, the Royal Guard stirred and opened his eyes.

"Kaxdhri'in?" he asked, blinking. "The human tricked me with some type of gas. What has happened?"

Hanging her head, the scientist informed him of Blackfire's acquisition of the Crown of X'hal and her subsequent treachery. "But why?" Fireblade asked. "I do not understand why she would treat us like that. We served her loyally. Why should she turn on us now?"

"I saw her eyes, my friend," Kaxdhri'in said. "She is mad with power. She is no longer the person we remembered, assuming that person ever existed at all. What can we do?"

Fireblade's eyes narrowed. "I doubted her for some time before this," he said softly, "but I never spoke my doubts aloud- I still had that much respect for her. But this… this goes against everything Tamaran stands for. A bond of friendship is unbreakable." His eyes flashed green. "We must be avenged."

"But- how?" Kaxdhri'in asked. "What about your honor as a Royal Guard?"

Fireblade stood and drew his blade. "The human told me that his kind see honor in doing what is right, even if to do so you must go against friends and leaders. I believe it is time we put that to the test."

He launched himself into the air, Kaxdhri'in following. Below them, Robin was too engrossed in tending to his team to notice their departure. "What of Thalfarr?" the scientist asked when they were airborne.

Fireblade shook his head. "He was a mercenary and a brute, not one of us. This is between old friends."

#############

Starfire faced her sister atop the skyscraper as lightning flashed overhead. "It is over, Blackfire," she said calmly. "Even now I do not wish to fight you, but I will if you give me no choice."

"_Over? For you, perhaps!_" Blackfire-X'hal said. "_You barely defeated me once before, and now I have the power of X'hal flowing through my veins. You have no hope._"

"There is always hope," Starfire said. "And perhaps I do not have to fight your powers at all. I know that you are in there, sister, and as horrible as you have let yourself become, I know that this destruction was not your goal. Do not let the power control you…"

Blackfire-X'hal laughed, and from the sky thunder answered. "_Poor, innocent little Star. I _like _what I am now. The power- you can't imagine what it's like. It makes the Jewel of Charta look like nothing! Well, I guess you will be able to imagine it in a few moments, when I hit you with it, but I promise that won't last very long."_ Raising a hand, she fired a blast of energy.

Starfire dodged and returned fire of her own, sending starbolt after starbolt shooting at her sister. Most of them were deflected harmlessly away, but every so often one would strike closely after another or near the face and Blackfire-X'hal would stumble backwards. Every so often she fired off another of her powerful blasts, but Starfire managed to dodge each time.

Finally, however, she was too slow and the blast hit home. Pain lanced up her body and she fell from the sky, only to be caught in what looked like a glowing purple hand and carried over to the ledge where her sister waited. _"Telekinesis,"_ Blackfire-X'hal said. "_Your friend Raven isn't the only one who can do it anymore." _ She stepped forward and stood over Starfire's prone form. "_You thought you could beat me? Really? It's over, sister- your fight, your planet, and your _life." She raised a hand, and the energy began to gather in it. "_Say goodbye._"

She raised the energy bolt high, but before she could bring it crashing down, something thin and white stuck her back. Blackfire-X'hal went to her knees, screaming in agony, as Starfire sat up and stared. Fireblade and Kaxdhri'in stood behind her sister, and the scientist had an energy beam fixed on Blackfire's back.

"Now, Princess Starfire!" Kaxdhri'in called. "While the pain ray has her distracted. Take the Crown!"

"_Traitors!"_ Blackfire-X'hal screamed, spinning around and blasting both with lightning. "_How dare you betray me!" _

"You betrayed… us first," Fireblade gasped as the energy forced him to his knees.

"_Then you will join my sister in death!_" Blackfire-X'hal promised, intensifying the current. At that moment, though, Starfire leaped on her from behind and seized the Crown. Waves of electric agony shot up her arms, but the princess of Tamaran focused all of her strength and will on this one task. At last the Crown tore free, and she fell backwards with it in her lap.

Blackfire whirled on her, the light surrounding her dimmed but not extinguished, bolts of lightning still crackling about her hands and eyes. "You'll pay for that, sister," she spat. "But I still have enough of X'hal's power to finish this farce. Then I'll have that crown back, and I'll be a goddess again." She raised her hands to unleash the final blow.

Starfire, not certain why she did it but convinced that it was the only option, raised the Crown of X'hal and placed it on her own head.

At once agony exploded inside her skull, partly physical but mostly stemming from the centuries of pent up pain and rage that filled her mind. She saw flashes of alien conquest, strange experiments, and a fiery rebirth, followed by devastation and then imprisonment within the Crown. She could feel X'hal's hatred for her own people, and her need to exact vengeance.

But at the same time, she saw how the origins of that hate and was filled with pity. The planet she had ruled had been the one thing left in the universe that X'hal had truly loved- its destruction and her subsequent imprisonment had left her insane. At the heart of the goddess was not truly rage or hatred, but grief and terrible pain.

"I am sorry," Starfire whispered. "I am sorry you had to suffer like that."

_You are not the one who woke me_, a voice said, filled with power- the same voice that had spoken overlaid with Blackfire's. _You are different- kinder. Weaker._

"No," Starfire whispered. "What my sister has is not strength. She is selfish and arrogant and cruel, but in the end that only made her friends turn on her. Even if she wins today, she has still lost."

_All who you trust will betray you, in the end. Did my children not betray me? _

"They did what they did only to save their own people," Starfire said. "But there are good people in this universe, on Earth and Tamaran. Let me show you." X'hal's mind was linked to hers now, as it had been to Blackfire's earlier. Perhaps this meant that the goddess in some way shared her thoughts and feelings- and while they were together, Starfire could influence her actions. Therefore she filled her mind with images of her home world, a planet of warriors fierce but noble, who valued two things above all- courage, and undying loyalty to friends. Blackfire was an aberration, she thought. See what Tamaran really is- what your people really are.

Then she called up memories of Earth, and the new family she had found here- strong, brave Cyborg, Beast Boy and his jokes, Raven who had overcome the darkness of her birth to be a hero. Last of all she showed Robin, closest to her of them all, who had no special powers but fought evil anyway, who had taught her that she could find a home in a strange new world. All of these images she sent into the goddess's mind.

For a moment, X'hal's hatred wavered, and then Starfire could feel her reaching out mentally across the city, feeling the minds of the humans and the three other Tamaraneans on the rooftop. Finally her consciousness returned to the crown, and Starfire felt it meld with her own mind. The hate was still there, and perhaps it would return in full force if Blackfire put the Crown on again. But for now, X'hal saw the world through Starfire's eyes.

_Perhaps a god can forget what it is like to live as a mortal_, X'hal said. _But that should not be. You have shown me that in my hate I let myself become blind. Now I see clearly again._

The princess of Tamaran stood, and somehow she knew that her body was casting a burning green light, much like Blackfire's had violet. When she spoke, her voice and X'hal's were overlaid. "_This is my judgment,_" she said quietly, but with power. "_Blackfire of Tamaran, you sought to use my power to unleash destruction on this galaxy. In that, you are no better than the warlords of the Branx who enslaved your ancestors eons ago. This is my will- you shall return to Tamaran to stand trial for your crimes, and there you shall accept the punishment they set for you." _

Blackfire laughed. "As if I'd do that. They won't be able to hold me, sister. I'll be back, and I'll find another source of power and defeat you once and for all!"

"_I thought you might say that_," Starfire-X'hal said sadly. She raised a hand and lightly touched it to Blackfire's forehead. There was a brilliant flash of green light, and when it cleared the older princess sank to the ground in a faint. _"Long ago, I gave to my people the power to manipulate energy as I can- to fly, and in some to produce the energy called starbolts. Now I take this from you, until such time as I decide you are worth again. Now you cannot escape justice- you are as weak as the humans you considered yourself so far above." _

Starfire-X'hal turned and looked out over the city one last time. Then she raised a hand towards the heavens and cleared the dark stormclouds away. When that was done, she reached up and removed the Crown, and the light faded from around her. With a sigh, Starfire placed the Crown on the roof in front of Fireblade and Kaxdhri'in, who were staring at her in awe.

"It is over," she said.


	13. Epilogue: Justice

**Epilogue: Justice **

"So you just let Blackfire's friends take her and _go_?" Beast Boy asked for the tenth time. "Star, are you crazy?"

Starfire shook her head. "My sister is not dangerous to anyone anymore. After X'hal suppressed her powers and she realized what had happened, it was as if her mind shut down. By the time they left Earth, she still had not spoken or reacted to anyone."

"I don't think that's what Beast Boy was worrying about," Robin said. "Are you sure you trust Fireblade and Kaxdhri'in?"

"I do. You know that my people value loyalty and friendship very much- when Blackfire betrayed them, she did something we would find unforgivable. They will see to it that justice is done on Tamaran, for Blackfire and Thalfarr."

"What about the Crown?" Raven asked. "That thing is _way_ too dangerous to be left lying around. What happened to it?"

"Kaxdhri'in took it," Starfire said. "X'hal remains too dangerous to free, and it is not possible to destroy the Crown without also unleashing an explosion powerful enough to reduce a planet to dust, but she has said she will wait until she is in interstellar space and release it. It will float there forever. Even if someone does find it, maybe X'hal will remember what I showed her. It is not a perfect solution, but it is the best we can do. If they took it with them back to Tamaran, there is too much of a chance that someone would be tempted to use it."

"Who wouldn't?" Cyborg put in. "The power of a god- it'd get anyone interested, but especially people like Blackfire, who are exactly who you don't want with it. Lost in space forever? Probably for the best."

"Well, if everyone's happy with what's happened, then I've got to EAT!" Beast Boy almost shouted. "Don't know about anyone else, but I've just had my butt kicked by an alien goddess, and I need a nice tofuburger. Anyone with me?" The shapeshifter jumped off the couch and rushed over to the kitchen area.

Cyborg was close behind him. "Yes to the dinner, no to the tofu! I am _not_ eating that stuff." Raven glided silently behind the two boys, a look on her face that clearly said she was only following them to keep the damage at a minimum.

Starfire stood and walked over to the window, looking out at the sky that was just beginning to go dark. It had been a hard day- a hard week, for that matter- but it was over. She and her friends were alive and Blackfire had been vanquished. They'd won.

"Hey, Star," a voice said behind her, and she turned to see Robin standing there. "You all right? Are you sure you're not hungry?"

"I am fine, Robin," she said. "I am just thinking."

"I know how you feel," he replied. "Everything that happened- Blackfire becoming X'hal, you fighting her, and then you becoming X'hal. If I'd heard it from anyone else, I'd have had a hard time believing it, even with all the weird stuff that always happens to us."

"It was… incredible," Starfire said. "Holding all that power in me- I knew that I could create or destroy whole worlds, if I had wanted to. I could have turned Blackfire into a mindless slave or blasted her into ash. But I did not. I gave up the power, because I knew it was too much for me. I did not want it."

Robin smiled at her. "At that shows that, no matter what she might have said, you're a better person than Blackfire could ever be. You knew when to say 'no'."

Starfire put an arm around his shoulder. "Thank you, Robin."

They stood there for a long time, watching the sun set and listening to the sounds of their friends in the kitchen. After a while, though, Robin spoke again. "There's still one thing I'm wondering, though. Those were definitely Slade's robots, but he's not someone to sell them, and they've probably got some sort of self-destruct to keep them from being stolen. That means he had a hand in this. But what did he get out of it?"

############

In the tunnels below Jump City, the darkness was broken by the unearthly glow that came from a long piece of transparent metal as it was lowered into the great machine that dominated the room. The robotic claws that held it fixed it slowly into place, and then retracted. For a moment the alien device pulsed so brightly that it illuminated the whole lair, as well as the scar on one side where it had recently been repaired by a young Tamaranean scientist whose skill far outweighed her sense. Then the light dimmed, and the chamber was left once more in shadow.

On the balcony above, the dark man watched and nodded approvingly. "Phase two is now complete," he said quietly to himself. "Everything proceeds on schedule." After taking one last look at his handiwork with his good eye, Slade turned and walked from the balcony and into the main part of his headquarters.

He had work to do.


End file.
